Plant Science Research, Vol. 42, 2020

An updated checklist of the macrophytes of Chilika Lagoon, its uninhabited islands and shoreline

Chilika, the largest brackish water lagoon of Asia and the largest wintering ground of migratory birds in Indian sub-continent, is situated in coastal Odisha along the east coast of India. The biological diversity of plants of Chilika lagoon and its adjoining regions has been studied by several workers in the past but complete inventory of plant resources of this important Ramsar site has so far not been done. Based on exhaustive and multi-seasonal survey of the lagoon, its shoreline and uninhabited islands under the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project from 2012-2020 and earlier studies by the present authors and others, an updated checklist of 884 species of flowering plants belonging to 537 genera and 130 families has been prepared and presented in this paper. Out of this, 80 species are reported here for the first time from Chilika lagoon and its adjoining regions. For each species, correct botanical name, family, local name (wherever available), flowering and fruiting time and locality of collection have been provided in the list.