International Science Community Association International Research Journal of Biological Sciences 2278 - 3202 6 3 2017 03 10 Phytochemical Study of Tradescantia spathacea 48 51 EN Senthilkumar S.R. 1 Department of Botany, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar 608 002, Tamil Nadu, India Sivakumar T. 2 Department of Botany, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar 608 002, Tamil Nadu, India Arulmozhi K.T. 3 Physics Wing (DDE), Annamalai University, Annamalainagar 608 002, Tamil Nadu, India Mythili N. 4 Department of Physics, Mohamed Sathak Engineering College, Kilakarai-623806, Ramnad, India S. Geetha 1 Department of Microbiology, The Standard Fireworks Rajaratnam College for Women Sivakasi, Tamilnadu, India Ranjani S. Subha 2 Department of Microbiology, The Standard Fireworks Rajaratnam College for Women Sivakasi, Tamilnadu, India Dutta Dandeswar 1 Rain Forest Research Institute, Jorhat-785001, Post Box No-136, Assam, India Hazarika Protul 2 Rain Forest Research Institute, Jorhat-785001, Post Box No-136, Assam, India Hazarika P. 3 Rain Forest Research Institute, Jorhat-785001, Post Box No-136, Assam, India Das Manotosh 1 Department of Aquaculture Management & Technology, Vidyasagar University, Midnapore, West Bengal, India and Department of Fishery, Govt. of West Bengal, India Hamel Tarek 1 Department of Biology, Badji Mokhtar University, Annabam-23000, Algeria Boulemtafes Amir 2 Department of Biology, Badji Mokhtar University, Annabam-23000, Algeria Slimani Abderachid 3 Department of Biology, Badji Mokhtar University, Annabam-23000, Algeria Madoui Bachir El Mouaz 4 Ecology of terrestrial and aquatic systems laboratory, Badji Mokhtar University, Annaba-23000, Algeria Drid Mohamed Djaber 5 Department of Biology, Badji Mokhtar University, Annabam-23000, Algeria Kadam Pavan M. 1 Department of Chemistry, Shri Vyankatesh Arts, Commerce & Science College, Deulgaon Raja Dist. Buldana, Maharashtra, India Kakde Nilesh P. 2 Department of Botany, Shri Vyankatesh Arts, Commerce & Science College, Deulgaon Raja Dist. Buldana, Maharashtra, India > Short Communication 2016 12 7 2017 03 10 Tradescantia spathacea, commonly called Moses-in-a-basket or oyster plant, is a clump-forming evergreen perennial that is origin from Guatemala, southern Mexico and Belize. It is widely grown in tropical areas because of its attractive foliage. It is commonly grown in the West Indies. It has shown invasive tendencies by escaping gardens and naturalizing in parts of Louisiana and Florida. It belongs to the family commelinaceae. It typically grows as a 6-12\" tall rosette consisting of narrow, spirally arranged, linear-lanceolate, stiffly-ascending, sword-shaped, dark green leaves (to 6-12\" long) with purple undersides. Plants will spread to form a dense ground cover over time. White flowers in axillary cymes are enclosed by long-lasting, boat-shaped, purple bracts, hence the common name of Moses-in-a-basket. Flowers bloom throughout the year. Flowers are followed by fruit (3-celled capsules). This plant is easily grown indoors in pots or containers. Genus name was given in honor of John Tradescant, a English horticulturist and plant collector. This work was done to study presence of phytochemicals in the leaves extract of Tradescantia spathacea. The extraction of leaves powder of Tradescantia spathacea was done using ethanol and it was used for testing the presence of various phytochemicals. Copyright@ International Science Community Association