Pharmacognostic evaluation of Leucas cephalotes spreng leaves

Background: The reliability and integrity of traditional systems of medicine depend upon properly identified sample of drugs ready to use as therapeutic agents for safety reason of the consumers. Objective: Keeping this background in mind this study was carried out on the leaf of Leucas cephalotes, basically a folklore drug also used in Unani Medicine and Ayurveda, on pharmacognostical parameters for producing enough data for correct identification of the plant. Materials and Methods: Pharmacognostic parameters such as morphology, anatomy, macrometry, micrometry, and quantitative microscopy, observation of isolated elements, physicochemical evaluation, preliminary phytochemical evaluation and fluorescence analysis of leaf were carried out using standard methods described by Johnson, Trease and Evans, British pharmacopoeia, Jenkins et al. and Kokoshi et al. HPLC and Spectrophotometery of aqueous and methanol extracts of leaf were also made. Results: Detailed results have been shown in figures and tables. Conclusion: The study provided useful information which can effectively be used to ascertain the authenticity of the available sample of the drug.