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Abstract
Odontonema cuspidatum (Nees) Kuntze is commonly known as cardinal's guard, mottled toothedthread and fire spike. It is a perennial shrub belonging to family Acanthaceae. It is native to Mexico and widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical areas as an ornamental plant for its attractive red flowers. The present investigation attempts to study the Pharmacognostical features of the aerial parts (leaf, stem and flower) of Odontonema cuspidatum (Nees) Kuntze. Pharmacognostical evaluation includes macroscopic, microscopy (for leaf, stem and flower) and surface preparation (for leaf and stem). This study will be useful in establishing Pharmacognostical standard measure which helps in identification and classification of the plant.
Key words: Odontonema cuspidatum, Acanthaceae, leaf, stem and flower.
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1. INTRODUCTION
Family Acanthaceae, a taxon of dicotyledonous flowering plants, deemed as one of the richest families with medicinal plants [1]. It includes about 346 genera and around 4300 species [2-4]. The most common genera are Barleria (230 spp.), Blepharis (129 spp.), Acanthus (50 spp.), Anisotes (23 spp.) [5], Andrographis (20 spp.) and Adhatoda (20spp.) [4] and Odontonema. The plant under investigation belongs to genus Odontonema which is a member of family Acanthaceae. Odontonema is native to the New World and comprises about 20-30 species distributed in Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean [6] and they are commonly cultivated as ornamentals in nurseries, greenhouses, and gardens in tropical and subtropical regions [6, 7]. The genus Odontonema are widely used in folk medicine as a remedy for several ailments: Odontonema callistachyum ground leaves and the stem applied on open wounds in order to heal them in Sierra Mazateca (Mexico) [8]. Odontonema tubiforme (Bertol.) kuntze leaves used by Kuna and Teribe Indians as an anti-inflammatory and for inducing child birth [9]. Odontonema cuspidatum the plant under investigation used in Burkina Faso for the treatment of hypertension [10] and recently, the methanolic extract of Odontonema cuspidatum aerial parts has reported for its antioxidant and hepatoprotective activity on Ccl4-induced liver injury in rats [11]. The plant reported to have flavonoids, saponin, glycosides, tannins, steroids and terpenoids in leaves extracts [12] . Odontonema cuspidatum is native to Mexico [6, 13]. It has been widely cultivated as an ornamental and can now be found naturalized in the southern...