''Rauvolfia tetraphylla'' is a plant in the family

Apocynaceae Apocynaceae (from ''Apocynum'', Greek for "dog-away") is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as the dogbane family, because some taxa were used as dog poison Members of ...

, 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 Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

, and northern

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

. It has been cultivated widely as both an ornamental and for use in traditional medicine. It is now naturalized throughout the tropics including

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologi ...

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

, and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Flower and fruits of Rauvolfia tetraphylla

A tiny white flower of Rauvolfia tetraphylla

''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 alkaloid Indole alkaloids are a class of alkaloids containing a structural moiety of indole; many indole alkaloids also include isoprene groups and are thus called terpene indole or secologanin tryptamine alkaloids. Containing more than 4100 known diffe ...

s including serpentine,

reserpine Reserpine is a drug that is used for the treatment of high blood pressure, usually in combination with a thiazide diuretic or vasodilator. Large clinical trials have shown that combined treatment with reserpine plus a thiazide diuretic reduces m ...

, serpentinine, and other Rauwolfia alkaloids were identified in phytochemical study.

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{{Taxonbar, from=Q3595081 tetraphylla Quinine Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Flora of Mexico Flora of Central America Flora of South America Flora of the Caribbean Medicinal plants Flora without expected TNC conservation status