Floral Diversity of Vaigai River in Thiruppuvanam Region of Sivagangai District, Tamil Nadu, Southern India

Abstract

The present study includes the enumeration of floral diversity of Vaigai River in Thiruppuvanam region of Sivagangai District, was undertaken for a period of 12 months from May 2014 to April 2015. Totally 106 species belonging to 94 genera distributed among 40 families were recorded. Dicotyledons were represented by 92 species of 80 genera belonging to 35 families. Monocotyledons were 13 species of 13 genera belonging to 4 families. One pteridophyte species was also recorded in the present study. Among dicotyledons, the family Malvaceae (8 species) was the most dominant family. In the case of monocotyledons, Poaceae (7 species) was the dominant one. Among the 40 families listed 17 families were represented by a single genus and a single species. The herbs (59 species) were found to be more in number than shrub (27 species) followed by climber (14 species) and tree (6 species). The present study also revealed that the maximum frequency of plant population (53.448%) was recorded for Cleome viscosa. The minimum frequency (1.724%) was recorded for 45 plants. Maximum density of plant population was recorded for Cleome viscosa (17.986) and minimum for 21 plants (0.035). The maximum abundance range (21.66) was recorded for Marsilea quadrifolia and the minimum abundance (1.00) was recorded for 25 plants.