DIVERSITY OF AQUATIC MEDICINAL ANGIOSPERMS OF DISTRICT HAMIRPUR, HIMACHAL PRADESH, INDIABabita Suman and Sheesh Pal SinghAbstract Aquatic plants are the species that thrive on water or wetlands. Plants are used as medicine in almost all cultures. The study of literature indicates that most of the work was done on terrestrial angiosperms in Himachal Pradesh. Aquatic plants are considered as menace as they are generally the result of eutrophication. Hence, no attention has been paid on the study of aquatic plants. But these aquatic plants are used as medicine by local people to cure various ailments. Keeping these facts in view, the present investigation was formulated to study aquatic plants of district Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh in reference to medicinal uses. This study was carried out between January 2019 to June 2023 in Hamirpur district, Himachal Pradesh, India. The water bodies were visited every month and aquatic plants were collected and herbaria were prepared. Plants were identified with the help of literature. The medicinal uses were documented by interacting with local people and consulting the literature. During present exploration 15 species of medicinally important aquatic angiosperms belonging to 14 genera and 14 families were reported. The changes in land use pattern are resulting in loss of aquatic plant diversity. Therefore, urgent steps are needed to save these useful aquatic herbs. The present study can be utilized in bioprospecting by pharmaceutical industries. |