An erect, small, evergreen perennial semi-shrub growing upto 50 cm tall, the species is wide ranging in Asia and found in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. It is found in almost all parts of India up to an altitude of 1000 m, and is more common in submontane regions of Himalayas and in the lower ranges of eastern and western ghats across states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Sikkim, Assam, Kerala, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra and Andaman islands. Between Sirmor and Gorakhpur districts of Uttar Pradesh, the plant is frequently noticed in shady moist or sometimes swampy localities. In eastern localities in Bihar, north Bengal and Assam as well as in Khasi, Jantia and Garohills, the plant is encountered more numerously on the forest margins of mixed deciduous forests. Rauwolfia occurs more frequently in Goa, Coorg, North Canara and Shimoga districts of Karnataka and Palghat, Calicut and Trichur districts of Kerala. In Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, the areas comprising the catchment of river Godavari are the richest. The species is now considered ‘endangered’ in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and in central India.