Abstract

With an aim to make an inventory of aquatic and wetland plant diversity, field explorations were undertaken during November-2016 to April-2017 in Sipu river downstream area near Sipu dam, district Banaskantha, Gujarat, India. The climate of the district is arid and semi-arid, with tropical dry deciduous and thorny forests. This floristic survey conducted for the first time in the study area showed the wealth of aquatic and wetland flora of the region under study. A total of 22 species in 18 genera and 12 Angiosperm families were recorded for the first time during present survey conducted in the area under study. Of the total recorded species Dicotyledons consisted of 58% whereas, Monocotyledons of 42%. The family Cyperaceae turned out as dominant and genus Cyperus considered as dominant genus in the present study. An aquatic Pteridophyte - Azolla pinnata R. Brown recorded during field exploration from the study area. From the present study, it can be concluded that the study area contains a significant proportion of varied aquatic and wetland plant species, and well adapted to special edaphic and climatic conditions; but their frequency, abundance, etc. were observed poor may be due to uncontrolled anthropogenic practices in the area. KEY WORDS: Aquatic and wetland plants, Sipu river, Banaskantha, Gujarat.

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