Plants of the family Sauruaceae are used in folk medicine in various parts of the world. Chemistry of some plants of this family and their chemotaxonomy has been investigated in our laboratory (12). It is very difficult to establish identity and authenticity of commercially available crude drugs and powders of the Saururaceae because a detailed, collective study of microscopic features of these plants is not available. Original papers establishing plants of this family (see later) do not include microscopic features; they describe only gross morphologic and other classical features required for systematics. They are not useful for a pharmacologist in establishing identity of commercial drugs. Therefore a detailed microscopic examination of powdered materials prepared in the laboratory from authentic crude drugs of the Saururaceae was undertaken . The observations are collectively presented in the form of "keys" which could be used by pharmacognosists and others involved in examination of crude drugs and herbal medicinals.

Chen Feng. / "August 2004." / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 166-178). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese.