Traditional curatives based on herbal medicinal rationales are time tested and widely accepted across various cultural and socioeconomic strata all around the world. The emergence of drug resistant germs makes the circumstances more assailable for emerging pathogens, especially fungi. Thus an attempt to assess the spectrum of antifungal activity among selected Verbenaceae members (P. serratifolia, L. nodiflora, V. trifolia, V. negundo var. negundo, V. negundo var. pubescens, V. altissima, V. leucoxylon, V. pinnata, S. jamaicensis, C. inermis and C. serratum) was conducted against a panel of 8 fungi (Aspergillus flavus, A. fumigatus, A. niger, Penicillium sp., Verticillium sp., Curvularia sp., Mucor sp. and Fusarium sp.). All of the tested plants were inhibitory to many of the tested fungi and both of the extracts (petroleum ether and methanolic) showed appreciable antifungal effects, though the phytochemical composition was dissimilar.

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The present study attempted to evaluate the pollen size, percentage of sterility using acetocarmine, percentage of germination in sucrose medium among the members of the family Malvaceae like Malvaviscus arboreus Cav., Sida rhombifolia L., Urena lobata L. Hibiscus furcatus Roxb. Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L. and Gossypium arboreum L. Regarding the size pollen grains of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis showed largest pollen. The smallest pollen grains belong to Urena lobata, L. The pollen sterility using acetocarmine indicated that the pollens of Hibiscus furcatus were completely fertile, while Sida rhombifolia showed highest amount of sterility. The germination of pollen grain in sucrose medium indicated that the pollen grain of all the members studied showed poor germination.

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