College name : CMR National PU College, ITPL, Bangalore

Item observed: Floating plant from Loktak lake, Manipur

Date of Collection: 2/12/18

On our visit to the biodiversity hotspot Loktak lake in Manipur, we observed several floating plants around the phumdis of the lake. We collected a small plant part from one of the floating plants and removed a minute strand of its leaflet to observe under foldscope. The appearance of the leaflet was like a thin strand which is brown in colour. But when we observed it under the foldscope, it clearly had parenchyma packed with chloroplasts along with another pigment which was giving it a reddish-brown appearance. It was wonderful to observe the anatomy of the hydric plant under foldscope and understand the presence of chlorophyll as well as pigment like phycoerythrin which was giving it a reddish-brown appearance.