| Family: Apocynaceae
Habitat: Moist forests shady
places near rain-forest.
Status: The
natural reserves of this plant are declining,
especially after reports of its medicinal
properties appeared in literatures. International
Union for the Conservation of Nature and
Natural Resources (IUCN) has kept this plant
under endangered status.
Distribution: The snake-weed genus
includes about 50 species, this has fairly
wide area of distribution, including the
tropical part of the Himalayas, the Indian
peninsula, Sri Lanka, Burma, and Indonesia.
Related Species
Rauvolfia tetraphylla
L. (Syn. R. canescens L.; R. heterophylla
Roem. and Schult.). In Hindi, it is named
Barachandrika. Found in Bihar, Orissa, Chhattisgarh,
Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh,
Tamil Nadu, and Kerala states of India.
Native to West Indies. Its roots are often
used as an adulterant of R. serpentina.
Rauvolfia vomitoria Afzel.
and R. caffra. Both are African species.
Having medicinal properties similar to R.
serpentina but with low total alkaloid content
and also low in serpentina.
Botany: An erect perennial shrub with a
long, irregularly, nodular, yellowish root
stock.
Leaves: In whorls of 3, thin, lanceolate, acute,
bright green above and pale beneath.
Flowers: in
irregular corymbose cymes, white, often
tinged with violet.
Fruit: Drupe, single or didymous, shining black,
the inflorescenece with red pedicels and
calyx and white corolla.
Flowering Time:
March to May in Indian
conditions.
Natural Components: The root contains ophioxylin
(an alkaloid having orange colored crystalline
principle), resin, starch and wax. The total
alkaloid yield is 0.8%. Five crystalline
alkaloids isolated are ajmaline, ajmalicine,
serpentine, serpentinine, and yohimbine.
Useful Parts: Roots
and leaves.
Medicinal Properties
and Uses: According
to Ayurveda root is bitter, acrid, heating,
sharp, pungent and anthelminic. Drug Rauvolfia
consists of air-dried roots. Rauvolfia preparations
are used as antihypertensive and as sedative.
It is also used for the treatment of various
central nervous system disorders associated
with psychosis, schizophrenia, insanity,
insomnia, and epilepsy.
Ayurvedic Preparations: Sarpagandha ghanavati,
sarpagandha yoga, Sarpagandha churna, Mahesvari
vati etc.
Cultivation: This plant is under
cultivation in India, Sri Lanka, and Java.
Experiments on cultivation are in progress
in the United States.
Climate: it
grows luxuriantly well where the rainfall
is 2500 mm or more. The areas having more
equable climatic variations seem to be more
suited than the areas having higher climatic
variations.
Soil: It
prefers soil with plenty of humus and rich
in nitrogenous and organic matter with good
drainage. Alkaline soils are not suitable
for commercial cultivation.
Propagation: Can be propagated both
through seeds and vegetatively, but propagation
by seed is preferred.
Seed Rate: 10 kg/ha.
Nutrients: Generally
organic cultivation is practiced. Initially
before sowing 10–15 tonnes of farm
yard manures/ha are used.
Spacing: 45
× 30 cm.
Plant Protection: Serious and major infestation
of any insect of diseases have not been
reported.
Maturity Period: 3 Years. At this time
the subaerial parts dry and main root reach
a depth of 0.9 meters.
Average
Yield: 2700 to 3300 kg dried roots/ha
and 8–10 kg seed. |
