Bince Mani

Endopogon versicolor Wight, previously treated as a synonym of Strobilanthes cuspidata (Benth.) T. Anderson, is reinstated as a distinct species and a new name S. benthamii B. Mani, Sinj. Thomas, Britto, A.K. Pradeep, Y.F. Deng & E.S.S. Kumar is necessarily proposed here. It differs from S. cuspidata by the stem and leaf indumentum, bract/calyx length ratio, corolla shape, pollen morphology, etc. Detailed descriptions, illustrations, pollen morphology and comparison with similar species are provided.

The ethnic people indigenous to Southern Western Ghats using stem bark of Pittosporum dasycaulon Miq. in their medicinal preparations to treat various skin diseases, leprosyand bronchitis and also used as antifungal and antibacterial agent. The dried stem bark of P. dasycaulon was serially extracted with petroleum ether, chloroform, acetone, methanol and water. The extracts were concentrated and their antibacterial activity was detected against thirteen bacterial strains by disc diffusion method. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of each extract was also determined. Chloroform and acetone extracts displayed a potential antibacterial activity, against all the tested gram-positive bacteria and eight gram-negative bacteria, compared to petroleum ether, methanol and aqueous extracts. Among the different fractions chloroform extract was most effective with maximum zone of inhibition (23.33±0.58 mm) and lowest MIC value (≤ 0.325 mg/ml) against Enterobacter aerogens. The aqueous extra...