Be Still Tree

Cultivated for medicine.

The latex has been reported to be emetic, cathartic, and expectorant and is used for treating dropsy. The fruit juice is used as a substitute for ink.

Shrubs to 2 m tall, pubescent or tomentose when young, glabrescent with age. Leaves in whorls of 3-5; petiole 2-5 mm; leaf blade ovate, narrowly ovate, or oblong, 1-15 X 0.8-4 cm, membranous, base broadly cuneate to rounded, apex acute or obtuse; lateral veins 5-12 pairs. Peduncle 1-4 cm. Corolla white, tube urceolate, 2-3 mm, long hairy inside distal half; lobes ovate or suborbicular. Stamens inserted at corolla throat. Ovaries connate. Drupes subglobose, 5-10 mm in diam., glabrous, connate. Seeds 2. Fl. May, fr. Jun-Aug. 2n = 66.

Nepal (W-E): China, India; North America, South America

150-300 m (Natz.)

Herbs

S Guangdong, SW Guangxi, Hainan, S Yunnan [native to tropical America].

Rauvolfia tetraphylla is a plant in the family Apocynaceae, growing as a bush or small tree. It is commonly known as the be still tree or devil-pepper. The plant is native to Mexico, Central America, West Indies, and northern South America. It has been cultivated widely as both an ornamental and for use in traditional medicine. It is now naturalized throughout the tropics including Australasia, Indochina, and India.

Rauvolfia tetraphylla plant captured in West Bengal, India. Flower and fruits in West Bengal, India. A tiny white flower of Rauvolfia tetraphylla Fruits of devil-pepper (Rauvolfia tetraphylla) in West Bengal, India. Close-up of fruits

Rauvolfia tetraphylla fruits are called devil-peppers and hold an important position in the Indian traditional system of medicine. The plant has various significances and it is widely used by South Indian tribes.

Asima Chatterjee initiated chemical investigation of alkaloids in Rauvolfia tetraphylla then known as Rauwolfia canescens. Indole alkaloids including serpentine, reserpine, serpentinine, and other Rauwolfia alkaloids were identified in phytochemical study.