Kew POWO accepts Rauvolfia serpentina (L.) Benth. ex Kurz in Apocynaceae. Historical synonyms include Ophioxylon serpentinum, O. album, Rauvolfia obversa, and R. trifoliata; older labels may spell the name “Rauwolfia” with a w. A materia medica record should connect the accepted scientific name to the name used by its source, rather than treating an orthographic variant as another species or pooling every Rauvolfia as one drug.

The Thai Herbal Pharmacopoeia describes a small shrub with slender, smooth, upright stems and simple leaves usually arranged in whorls of three to five at a node. Blades are narrowly elliptic to obovate with entire margins. Clusters bear white tubular flowers; small drupe-like fruits darken at maturity. Whorled leaves are a useful field clue, but are not enough to identify a wild specimen without flowers or fruit, a voucher, and botanical expertise.

The pharmacopoeial material is dried root, sometimes with pieces of rhizome or stem base. Roots may be long, curved, twisted, and longitudinally wrinkled; cut-face appearance varies by lot and processing. The AI images here illustrate plant and root form for study only. They cannot replace a voucher, microscopy, chromatography, chemical tests, or a lot-specific certificate of analysis, and must not be used to authenticate a product.

Sarpagandha is a South Asian drug name associated with Rauvolfia serpentina root in Ayurveda and regional pharmacopoeias. The Thai Herbal Pharmacopoeia places the material in antihypertensive and antipyretic categories; PROSEA records a history of use in South and Southeast Asia. Such classifications describe how references categorize the drug; they are not advice to use the plant to self-manage blood pressure, fever, insomnia, or neurological illness.

Botanical and trade references record traditional use for snake or insect bites and some nervous-system complaints; practices vary by community, period, root preparation, and context. Some sources mention use in mixtures with other plants but do not give names, amounts, and ratios sufficient to identify a reproducible formula. This profile therefore supplies no recipe, attributes no benefit to a particular pair, and does not infer efficacy from disease names in ethnobotanical records.

Presence in Ayurveda or a Thai pharmacopoeial record does not make this a Vietnamese or Chinese materia medica drug with equivalent properties, channels, or use. Its root contains potent pharmacological alkaloids; traditional practice does not remove toxicity, misidentification, or interaction risks. This section documents historical context and distinguishes knowledge systems; it does not encourage self-treatment.

Kew’s Medicinal Plant Names Services maps the drug name “serpentina root” to dried Rauvolfia serpentina root in Ayurvedic and Unani pharmacopoeial sources. The Thai Herbal Pharmacopoeia also defines the crude drug as dried root of this exact species. Agreement across drug references supports material identification, but a trade name alone is insufficient: retain scientific name, plant part, provenance, lot, and testing standard.

The Thai monograph lists indole alkaloids such as ajmaline, ajmalicine, reserpine, and serpentine. USP describes dried root and an assay standard for the reserpine–rescinnamine group in its monograph; that criterion belongs to that edition. Do not compare or transfer standards across pharmacopoeias without checking the method, reference standard, edition, and specific product.

A chemical criterion for identity or quality is not a dose and cannot show that a handful of roots has a predictable effect. Composition varies with genetics, soil, season, plant age, root part, storage, and extraction. Images show gross morphology only; species and alkaloid content require professional methods. This section helps readers interpret labels and sources, not prepare medicine.

The root is not a self-use material. Reserpine is an alkaloid affecting nervous and cardiovascular systems; prescription reserpine products can cause sedation, dizziness, hypotension, bradycardia, and depression. DailyMed urges caution in people with a history of depression; a propranolol combination label warns of increased hypotension, marked bradycardia, dizziness or postural fainting, and potentiated depression. Active-ingredient data do not quantify the risk of every root lot, but they are sufficient reason not to treat raw material as harmless.

Do not combine Rauvolfia root or products with blood-pressure medicines, heart-rate-lowering medicines, sedatives, or mood-affecting medicines without a clinician reviewing the case. Interactions depend on active constituents, extract concentration, health conditions, and current medicines; this profile does not invent a dose or dosing interval. Do not stop or reduce prescribed treatment to substitute the plant. For a product of uncertain composition, retain its package and lot details and consult a clinician or pharmacist.

Fainting, unusual drowsiness, a slow heartbeat, low blood pressure, persistent vomiting, or severe mood changes need urgent assessment; contact emergency or poison-control services locally. Pregnant or breastfeeding people, children, people with depression, peptic ulcer or cardiovascular disease, and people preparing for surgery should not self-administer or handle medicinal material. Images and traditional-use notes cannot replace identification, toxicology testing, or clinical advice.

In the project’s 2026.1 CITES Trade Database extract, filtering the exact taxon Rauvolfia serpentina, term medicine, purpose T (commercial), and Appendix II yields three comparative rows for 2019, 2021, and 2023. All three report source A; the specific rows list India as origin, Germany/Switzerland as exporters, and Switzerland/Austria as importers. These are comparative rows under a defined filter, not unique shipment counts, summed volume, or a measure of the whole global market.

CITES lists Rauvolfia serpentina in Appendix II; current annotation #2 must be read with the Appendices to understand covered specimens and exemptions. Appendix II does not mean every product is prohibited, but transactions within CITES scope must meet permit and source requirements. CITES rows are Party-reported records and may not cover every active ingredient, finished preparation, or unreported transaction.

PROSEA notes that root harvest destroys plants and reports overexploitation of wild populations; some areas have become rare or lost the species. Source A in the three filtered rows denotes artificially propagated source under CITES source coding, but does not prove that the whole market comes from cultivated plants. Conservation requires lot-level traceability and management of collection areas; a materia medica name or general CITES listing is not a certificate for an individual shipment.