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Botanical Name
Rauvolfia serpentina

Indian Snakeroot

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Details

The Indian snakeroot is a perennial undershrub of the milkweed family, also called devil pepper, serpentine wood, sarpagandha or chandrika. It is native to the Indian subcontinent and East Asia, from India to Indonesia, and is widely distributed in India in the sub-Himalayan regions up to 1,000 metres. The page says sarpagandha has been used in folk medicine in India for centuries for snake and insect bites, fevers, malaria, abdominal pain and dysentery, and that it was also used as a uterine stimulant and a cure for insanity. It says the plant was mentioned in Hindu manuscripts as long ago as 1000 BCE. It contains dozens of indole alkaloids, including ajmaline, ajmalicine, reserpine and serpentine. The page warns of adverse effects, among them interactions with prescription drugs and the effects of reserpine.

Caution

May cause adverse effects by interacting with prescription drugs; reserpine is associated with vomiting, diarrhoea, dizziness, headache, anxiety and hypersensitivity reactions.

References

#1

Correspondences

Elements
No elements recorded.
Celestial Bodies
No celestial bodies recorded.
Zodiac Signs
No zodiac signs recorded.
Colours
No colours recorded.
Deities
No deities recorded.

Folk Names

  • Chandrika
  • Devil Pepper
  • Sarpagandha
  • Serpentine Wood

Categories

No categories recorded.

Substitutes

No substitutes recorded.

Forms

Root

Caution

Reserpine is associated with vomiting, diarrhoea, dizziness, headache, anxiety and hypersensitivity reactions.

References

#2

References

Notes

  1. Wikipedia, under "Rauvolfia serpentina," lead; Uses; Potential adverse effects.
  2. Wikipedia, under "Rauvolfia serpentina."

Bibliography