Plant Science Research, Vol. 38, 2016

Diversity and distribution of exotic and alien plant species in Angul district of Odisha, India

An exhaustive floristic survey was carried out during 2013-2015 in the Angul district of Odisha  state to assess the diversity and distribution of exotic and alien plant species. The study  revealed the occurrence a total of 124 species of flowering plants belonging to 92 genera under  42 families. Of these, trees, shrubs, climbers and herbs are represented by 2, 14, 3 and 105  species respectively. Asteraceae was the most speciose family with 20 species followed by  Amaranthaceae (9 spp.), Convolvulaceae (7 spp.), Euphorbiaceae (7 spp.), Caesalpiniaceae (7  spp.) and Fabaceae (7 spp.). Chromolaena odorata, Hyptis suaveolens, Parthenium  hysterophorus, Alternanthera philoxeroides, Eichhornia crassipes and Lantana camara were  found to the most dominant and aggressive alien weeds of the district. Most of the exotics and  alien weeds reported from the district were found to be native of Tropical America, and Tropical  Africa and only few from the Asiatic region.