Clerodendrum inerme (L.) Gaertn belonging to family Verbenaceae is commonly known as Glory Bower and Garden Quinine in English. Traditionally the leaf of this plant is used for treating several human ailments like remittent and intermittent fever, scrofulous and veneral diseases, chronic pyrexia, asthma, bronchitis, inflammation, burning sensation and epilepsy. Looking at the therapeutic importance of C. inerme, the study has been carried out to establish the pharmacognostical features and physicochemical parameters along with the preliminary phytochemical screening of petroleum ether, chloroform and methanol extracts of the leaves of the plant. The macroscopical and microscopical characters of the leaves were studied. Transverse section of the leaf shows the presence of cuticle, epidermis, trichomes, stomata, palisade and spongy parenchyma, collenchyma, vascular bundles and parenchymatous cells. Leaf constants such as stomatal number, vein-islet number, veinlet termination number and palisade ratio were determined. The powder microscopic study revealed the presence of starch grains and calcium oxalate crystals. The physicochemical parameters such as total ash, acid insoluble ash, water soluble ash, alcohol soluble extractive and water soluble extractive values of the leaves were determined. Preliminary phytochemical screening of different extracts revealed the presence of alkaloids, tannins, steroids, triterpenoids, flavonoids and glycosides. These studies will be helpful towards establishing the pharmacognostic standards for sample identification, purity and quality of the plant.
