The plant Jatropha gossypifolia (Eurphorbiaceae) is known as belly ache bush.The plant originated from Brazil and it is now cultivated in Tropical countries throughout the world. The roots, stems, leaves, seeds and fruits of the plant have been widely used in traditional folk medicine in many parts of West Africa. The young stem of the plant is used as tooth brush as well as to clean tongue in the treatment thrush. The tuber of the plant grinded into a paste is also locally used in the treatment of hemorrhoids. The literature survey claims that there is a lack of taxonomical features of the species. Hence we aimed to study the morphology, microscopy and physicochemical constants of Jatropha gossypifolia leaves. The present study revealed different taxonomical charecters and physicochemical constants, the resultant features could be used to identify and to know the adulterants if any for routine qualitative measures.
