• Family : APOCYNACEAE
  (Dogbane Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : KARONDA FAMILY (करौंदा फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System III) : APOCYNACEAE
• Basionym : Ophioxylon serpentinum L.
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Rauvolfia serpentina (L.) Benth. ex Kurz
• Common name : Indian Snakeroot, Rauvolfia root, Serpentine wood, Serpentine
• Vernacular name : Chandrabhaga, Sarpagandh (Hindi); Sarpagandhi, Shivanabhiballi, Patalagandhi, Garudapataala (Kannada); Sarpaganthi, Sivan amalpodi (Tamil); Sarpagandham, Patal gandhi, Patal gani, Paataala garuda, Pathala garadi (Telugu); Patal garur, Patal goruda, Patal giridi, Bhuin karua (Oria); Sarpagandha (Sanskrit); Amalpori, Avalpori, Chuvannavilpuri, Sarpagandhi, Vanduvazha (Malayalam)
• Habit : Undershrub
• Habitat : Moist deciduous forests, also in the plains
• Comments / notes : Occasionally planted in gardens on hills. Cultivated for medicine
• Flower, Fruit : April-November
• World Distribution : Tropical Himalayas, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Malaysia
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Literature : Pullaiah et al., 2011 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 4; H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1995- Flora of Orissa Vol. 2; R. S. Rao et al., 1986 - Flora of West Godavari District; R. S. Rao and S. H. Sreeramulu, 1986 - Flora of Srikakulam District; H. O. Saxena and M. Brahmam, 1989 - The Flora of Similipahar (Similipal), Orissa; Matthew, K.M., The Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983; Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI.
• Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Raja K Swamy, Deepak Kumar, Arun Singh R. and K. Gopalakrishna Bhat (2019). Flora of Peninsular India. http://peninsula.ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Rauvolfia serpentina. Downloaded on 2 April 2025.

Botanical Description

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