**4. Phytoremediation by aquatic macrophytes**

Aquatic macrophytes constitute a group of taxonomically diverse macroscopic plants whose life cycle takes place completely or periodically in the aquatic environment. They play a dominant role in maintaining the ecosystem biodiversity, represented by 33 orders and 88 families, numbering about 2614 species in 412 plant genera. The wide adaptation in their growing habits help them to classify as emergent, floating-leaved, free-floating, submerged and marginal plants [35, 36].


In the given **Table 1**, some common aquatic macrophytesand their specificity for particular elements are detailed.

These macrophytes have the ability to concentrate metals both in the root and aerial parts, without causing any toxic symptoms on plant growth. In general,


*Aquatic Plants as Bioremediators in Pollution Abatement of Heavy Metals DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.99627*

#### **Table 1.**

*Common aquatic macrophytes and their phytoremediation potential.*

the submerged and floating macrophytes have the potential to accumulate more metals than emergent ones. Rhizofiltration offers much scope in the purification of heavily contaminated precious water resources, a big boon for eco restoration of aquatic systems.
