Alternanthera philoxeroides, Cadmium, Eichhornia crassipes, Heavy metals, Iron, Manganese, Nickel

The various ponds receive untreated sewage effluents from residential areas in Jabalpur city affecting water quality of the ponds. The very survival of aquatic weed species in contaminated water is testimony of ability of accumulating heavy metals. A survey was made to identify weed species grown in various ponds of Jabalpur  for assessing their heavy metal potential. The heavy metals exhibited the sequence of their concentration in pond water as Fe > Cd > Mn >Ni >Cu. Among the weeds, Eichhornia crassipes accumulated higher concentration of cadmium, nickel, iron and manganese in their roots than shoots whereas Alternanathera philoxeroides accumulated higher metals in shoots than its root parts. Except nickel, higher bioaccumulation factor of Fe, Cd, Mn, Ni, Cu  was exhibited by Alternanthera philoxeroides followed by Eichhornia crassipes. These observations may be exploited while selecting plant species for removal of heavy metals from contaminated water in an artificial wetland system.