AQUATIC ANGIOSPERMS OF JALUGUTI BEEL OF MORIGAON DISTRICT OF ASSAM AND THEIR UTILIZATION MANJU DEORI Department of Botany, Cotton College, Guwahati, Assam, India ABSTRACT Jaluguti beel is an important wetland of Morigaon district, situated at longitude 92 0 25 (E) and latitude 26 0 15(N). It has a rich biodiversity with a vertically stratified aquatic angiospermic plants consisting of rooted submerged, floating submerged, rooted floating, free floating and emergent species. It is the habitat of many herbivores as well as source of livelihood of the people of nearby area. The present study is an attempt to highlight the diversity of aquatic angiospermic plants of the wetland and their economical importance. For the purpose an extensive field surveys were conducted during August 2011 to December 2013 along with the discussions with fishermen and local communities regarding their resource utilization from the wetland. The paper records the occurrence of 55 aquatic angiospermic plants of the wetland with their various uses. Due to human interference in and around the wetland, many of the economically and ecologically important plants of this wetland are gradually disappearing. Therefore it become important to properly document explores and conserves the macrophytes to provide supports to the local people of the area for their sustenance. KEYWORDS: Aquatic, Angiosperms, Jaluguti Beel, Utilization INTRODUCTION Aquatic angiosperms are the plants that grow in water or soil covered with water. It constitutes a diverse assemblage of ecological groups. Based on their habit of growth they can be categorized into free floating, rooted floating, submerged suspended, submerged anchored and emergent. Many of the wetlands are rich in aquatic angiosperms and they are ecologically and economically important in wetland ecosystem. Wetlands are the earth’s most important fresh water resources which provide food and habitat for many aquatic life including threatened and endangered species. From economical point of view the macrophytes provide food, medicine, fibre, raw materials for making ornamental artifacts, animal fodder and firewood. Several works have been done on the wetland flora in different water bodies of India. The first comprehensive work on the wetland flora of India and Burma was presented by Biswas and Calder (1937). Later on Subramanyam (1962), Vyas (1964), Ghosh (2002). Singh (2006), Verma, Sharma & Sharma (2013), also reported on different aspects of hydrophytes of freshwater bodies. We have very little information about aquatic and wetland macrophytes from Assam. Barooah & Mahanta (2006) reported on aquatic angiosperms of Biswanath Chariali, Sarma and Saikia (2008) studied the utilization of wetland resources by the rural people of Nagaon District. Borah and Sarma (2012) presented on the Phytosociological investigation visa vis human impact on two wetlands of Sonitpur district of Assam. But there are scanty reports on the aquatic angiosperms composition and their utilization in wetland ecosystem of Morigaon district of Assam. The present study was therefore undertaken to investigate the aquatic angiosperms composition of Jaluguti beel and their various uses. BEST: International Journal of Humanities, Arts, Medicine and Sciences (BEST: IJHAMS) ISSN 2348-0521 Vol. 2, Issue 10, Oct 2014, 99-102 © BEST Journals