RESUMO
Chasmanthera dependens Hochst. is a woody liane of the dense evergreen or semi-deciduous lowland forest and riparian woodland of the drier Guinean zone. All the parts of plant are used in traditional medicine in West Africa and it is potent in curing sexually-related diseases such as gonorrhoea and other venereal discharges, soothing pains and stiffness, for treating physical or nervous disability and for dressing fractures. Keeping in view these activities, the bioactive chemical properties of the leaf and stem of the plant were screened and anatomical characters of these vegetative parts were investigated to prevent adulteration and aid [identification even when the plant specimens are in fragments]. The leaf is hypostomatic and the stomatal type is usually paracytic; the anticlinal wall pattern varied from undulate to curved and the epidermal cell lumen is filled with crystals of calcium oxalate. In the stem, the vascular bundle is bicollateral and the parenchyma cells are also impregnated with crystals of calcium oxalate. Saponins, alkaloids, and reducing sugars are present in the leaf and stem whereas anthraquinone, phlobatinnins, cardiac glycosides and cyanogenetic glycosides are absent. Similar retention factor of 0.74 obtained in thin layer chromatography confirms the presence of alkaloids in the leaf and stem of the plant