Pharmacognostic Estimation of Powder and Microscopic Analysis of Leaves Stem of Vitex Castofolia

Present work is to perform the microscopic evaluation of Vitex Castofolia fresh leaf and stem transverse section shows upper and lower epidermis with thin cuticle, cortex differentiated into collenchyma and cortical parenchyma, bi-collateral vascular bundle in midrib region; dorsiventral structure with palisade tissue lying towards upper surface, upper and lower epidermis with thin cuticle and spongy parenchyma in lamina portion with multicellular covering trichomes. Sub?epidermis, Inner coat containing Sclerenchymatous layer, Parenchymatous layer, Pigmant layer and also contains endosperm and oil globules and paracytic stomata. The quantitative microscopy of leaf shows average stomatal index ~ 12.23-16.18 and 20.14-23.98 in upper and lower surfaces respectively, vein-islet number~41-44/sq.mm, vein termination number~74-77/sq.mm, palisade ratio~8-10. It can be concluded that the microscopic analysis and pharmacognostic parameters can serve as tool for developing standards for proper authentication, quality, and purity of Vitex Castofolia leaves and stem