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Common devil pepper (Rauvolfia verticillata)

Dlium Common devil pepper (Rauvolfia verticillata)

Common devil pepper (Rauvolfia verticillata) is a species of plant in the Apocynaceae, an erect shrub up to 5 meters high, the bark is brown with white spots and the young stem is green.

R. verticillata has elongated oval-shaped leaves, pointed tips, flat or wavy margins, a main vein in the middle with many small pinnate veins, green on top and pale underside.



Inflorescence with 35 flowers or more. Flowers in panicles on long stalks and green, star-shaped crown and white or bright red.

The fruits grow in panicles and clusters, have long stalks, oval in shape, 1.4 cm long, green when young and whitish purple when ripe, oval in shape.

Common devil pepper grows in a variety of habitats from sea level to elevations of 2000 meters. Plants are used for a variety of traditional remedies including to treat snakebites, malaria, typhus and hypertension.

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Gentianales
Family: Apocynaceae
Subfamily: Rauvolfioideae
Tribe: Vinceae
Subtribe: Rauvolfiinae
Genus: Rauvolfia Plum. ex L. in Sp. Pl.: 208 (1753)
Species: Rauvolfia verticillata (Lour.) Baill. in Hist. Pl. 13: 170 (1895)

HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS

Dissolena verticillata Lour. in Fl. Cochinch.: 137 (1790)
Ophioxylon chinense Hance in J. Bot. 3: 380 (1865)
Rauvolfia chinensis (Hance) Hemsl. in J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 26: 95 (1889)

HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS

Cerbera chinensis Spreng. in Syst. Veg., ed. 16. 1: 642 (1824)
Ervatamia ophiorhizoides (Kurz) Lace in List Trees Shrubs Cl. Burma: 91 (1913)
Ervatamia ventii Lý in Feddes Repert. 96: 30 (1985)
Hunteria sundana Miq. in Fl. Ned. Ind. 2: 409 (1857)
Hunteria sundana var. minor Miq. (1857)
Ophioxylon belgaumense Wight in Icon. Pl. Ind. Orient. 4(2): 2 (1848)
Ophioxylon densiflorum (Wall.) Thwaites in Enum. Pl. Zeyl.: 191 (1860)
Ophioxylon macrocarpum Wight (1848)
Ophioxylon majus Hassk. in Flora 28: 295 (1854)
Ophioxylon neilgheerense Wight (1848)
Ophioxylon zeylanicum Wight (1848)
Rauvolfia altodiscifera R.H.Miao in Acta Sci. Nat. Univ. Sunyatseni 32(4): 66 (1993)
Rauvolfia brevistyla Tsiang in Sci. Rep. Kwangtung Coll. For. 1: 9 (1962)
Rauvolfia densiflora (Wall.) Benth. ex Hook.f. in Fl. Brit. India 3: 633 (1882)
Rauvolfia densiflora var. macrophylla Hook.f. (1882)
Rauvolfia latifrons Tsiang (1962)
Rauvolfia loheri Merr. in Philipp. J. Sci. 27: 50 (1925)
Rauvolfia major (Hassk.) G.Nicholson in Ill. Dict. Gard. 2: 279 (1886)
Rauvolfia membranacea Merr. in Philipp. J. Sci. 14: 449 (1919)
Rauvolfia obversa Koord. in Natuurk. Tijdschr. Ned.-Indië 60: 243 (1900)
Rauvolfia ophiorrhizoides (Kurz) Kerr in W.G.Craib, Fl. Siam. 2: 429 (1939)
Rauvolfia peguana Hook.f. (1882)
Rauvolfia perakensis King & Gamble in J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, Pt. 2, Nat. Hist. 74: 424 (1908)
Rauvolfia serpentina var. gracilis Stapf in Trans. Linn. Soc. London, Bot. 4: 207 (1894)
Rauvolfia superaxillaris P.T.Li & S.Z.Huang in Guihaia 5: 79 (1985)
Rauvolfia taiwanensis Tsiang (1962)
Rauvolfia verticillata var. hainanensis Tsiang (1962)
Rauvolfia verticillata var. macrophylla (Hook.f.) Karthik. & Moorthy in Fl. Pl. India: 137 (2009)
Rauvolfia verticillata var. oblanceolata Tsiang (1962)
Rauvolfia verticillata var. officinalis Tsiang (1962)
Rauvolfia yunnanensis Tsiang (1962)
Tabernaemontana cylindrica Steud. in Nomencl. Bot., ed. 2. 2: 658 (1841)
Tabernaemontana densiflora Wall. in Edwards's Bot. Reg. 15: t. 1273 (1829)
Tabernaemontana microcarpa Wall. (1829)
Tabernaemontana ophiorrhizoides Kurz in J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, Pt. 2, Nat. Hist. 42: 89 (1873)
Tabernaemontana parviflora B.Heyne ex Wall. in Numer. List: n.° 4453 A (1831)
Tabernaemontana subcapitata Hook.f. & Thomson in J.D.Hooker, Fl. Brit. India 3: 633 (1882)
Tabernaemontana wallichiana Steud. in Nomencl. Bot., ed. 2. 2: 658 (1841)

PUBLICATIONS

Govaerts, R. (2003). World Checklist of Selected Plant Families Database in ACCESS: 1-216203. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Middleton, D.J. (2007). Apocynaceae (subfamilies Rauvolfioideae and Apocynoideae). Flora Malesiana 18: 1-474. Noordhoff-Kolff N.V., Djakarta.

Middleton, D.J. (2011). Flora of peninsular Malaysia, II, 2: 1-235. Institut Penyelidikan Perhutanan Malaysia.

Middleton, D.J. (2014). Flore du Cambodge du Laos et du Viêt-Nam 33: 1-276. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris.

Nurtjahya, E. & al. (2026). Flowering Plants of Bangka Island: Native and Introduced. Acta Botanica Hungarica 68: 127-156.

VERNACULAR NAME

Chinese (simplified): 萝芙木
Chinese (traditional): 蘿芙木
English: Common Devil Pepper
Indonesian: Pule Pandak
Japanese: ホウライアオキ
Java: Pule pandak
Thai: ระย่อมใหญ่

Aryo Bandoro
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