• Rauvolfia serpentina, the Indian snakeroot, devil pepper, or serpentine wood, is a species of flower in the milkweed family Apocynaceae.

• It is native to the Indian subcontinent and East Asia (from India to Indonesia). Rauvolfia is a perennial undershrub widely distributed in India in the sub-Himalayan regions up to 1,000 metres (3,300 ft).

• It is the source of the phytochemical, reserpine, which has been used in the treatment of systolic hypertension.