| Summary/Abstract |
Many recent botanical articles on the medicinal plant Rauwolfia serpentina and on its therapeutic uses inform us that Mahatma Gandhi regularly took it because of its tranquilising effects; some go so far as to suggest that his peacefulness (and even the Indian non-violent struggle against the British colonisers) could be attributed to it. However, there is little evidence to support this. Although Gandhi did occasionally take some drops of an infusion made from the plant for his severe hypertension, the sensational claims that Rauwolfia tea was his favourite daily nightcap demonstrate how the results of poor research, where one unsubstantiated source is copied by others with further exaggerations added, can eventually assume the status of ‘fact’.
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