Phytochemical Screening of Achyranthes aspera Linn

Plants are small, much branched, monoecious perennial subshrub up to 0.8�1�0.8 m. Rootstock stout, woody. Stems somewhat succulent at first, ribbed, becoming basally woody with age, denselycovered in velutinous, appressed hairs. Leaves op-posite, densely clustered toward branch tips 40�50�25�30 mm, spreading to decurved, mostly broadlyovate, ovate-orbicular or elliptic; apex blunt to abruptly sub acute, sometimes very shortly apiculate; base attenuate; lamina somewhat fleshy, purple-grey, veins often purple, abaxial and adaxial surfaces silkycanescent, margins crenulate to crenate. Petioles 5�10mm long, pink, fleshy, velutinous, basal abscis-sion zone present. Inflorescence a terminal erectspike, 150�200mm long; peduncle 15mm long, fleshy, white-villous; spike rachis fleshy, white-vil-lous to purple-villous; flowers bisexual, retrorse, sessile, 180�200 per spike, these spaced initially at 10-mm intervals along rachis, diminishing rapidly to less than1-mm intervals toward inflorescence apex. Bract persistent on rachis, ovate to lanceolate 3�3.5�0.5�1mm, strongly retrorse, chartaceous, weakly keelednear apex only, pale white, margins entire, apex acute, sometimes with a small, 0.1�0.2-mm-long pale yellow mucro. Bracteoles 2; abscissing with senescent flowers; broadly ovate, 0.2�1mm long, chartaceous hyaline, lustrous, pale caramel; margins entire; strongly keeled, keel lustrous, caramel brown, extending well beyond bract as a hardened, chan-nelled, strongly recurved, falcate spine 4�5mm long. Perianth segments (sepals) 5, lanceolate, centralportion pale caramel-brown but distinctly pink-tinged, margins pale yellow or off-white opaque, hyaline; segments sub equal, 4.5�6mm, channelled. Stamens 4, connate at base, the filaments 0.5�1mm, alternating with 4 narrowly spathulate, 0.4�0.6 mm, white-hyaline, petaloid, fimbriate-argined pseudo staminodes; anthers 0.4�0.6mm, yellow, bilocular, dehiscing via longitudinal slits; pollen yellow. Style 0.6�1mm, pink to pale orange, aris-ing from a fleshy papillate style base 0.8mm diam. ; stigma brown, truncate. Utricle 2�2.5mm long, dark brown, turbinate, chartaceous, surmounted by the dry, somewhat woody, style base. Seed 1.2�1.8�0.9�1.2mm, ovoid to ellipsoid, dark chestnut brown.