River
Chittar is a perennial stream that runs along the eastern and southern
boundaries of Tropical Botanic Garden & Research Institute situated at
Palode, Thiruvananthapuram district. In the year 1997 an ecotaxonomic study was
undertaken to analyse the flora in and around this river (approximate length of
25 km) which revealed that the plants recorded fell under 4 divisions, 50
families, 78 genera and 81 species.
The
present report is an effort to analyse the above recorded plants in terms of their
economic importance, especially with reference to the local communities; it has
come to light that 35 plant species including trees, ferns and aquatic
angiosperms constituting the river vegetation have innumerable uses which are
enumerated here.