Studies on Leaf Epidermal Micromorphology, Wood Element Characters and Phytochemical Screening of Three Medicinally Important Taxa of the Family Convolvulaceae

The present paper deals with leaf epidermal micromorphology, wood element characters and phytochemical screening of three medicinally important plants of Convolvulaceae, viz., Evolvulus alsinoides (L.) L., Evolvulus nummularius (L.) L. and Ipomoea cairica ( L.) Sweet. The epidermal cells are found to be irregular in shape and the outlines of the cells are wavy in every species. Stomata are amphistomatic and mainly of paracytic type (except in Evolvulus nummularius). Trichomes are glandular and nonglandular, unicellular or multicellular, straight or curved. The range of the stomatal index varies from 11.40 to 20.00. Palisade ratio ranges from 6.2 to 9.8. The vessel element length ranges from 60.71 μm to 357.10 μm and the diameter varies from 21.78 μm to 66.06 μm. Perforation plate is simple and transverse or obliquely placed. Fibres are typical libriform, very long and diameter ranges from 10.71 mm to 16.78 mm. In every cases, tracheids are long with spiral to condensed spiral type of sidewall thickening and diameter is from 07.14 mm to 16.07mm. The active compounds are identified by the chemical colour reaction tests belonging to the phytochemical groups of amino acids, alkaloids, reducing sugars, flavonoids, saponins, steroids and triterpenoids, tannins, etc.