TAXONOMIC IDENTIFICATION OF SPENT ENGINE OIL TOLERANT PLANT SPECIES AT SELECTED AUTO MECHANIC WORKSHOPS IN IMO STATE NIGERIA

Indiscriminate disposal of spent engine oil is a serious ecological issue in most developing countries. Dearth of information in available literature on the type and characteristics of plants that can be applied in phytoremediation of spent engine oil polluted soils was the main reason forundertaking this study. The aim of this study was to identify indigenous plant species growing in the vicinity of auto mechanic workshops for inclusion as potential phytoremediators of hydrocarbon carbon contaminated soils in Imo State. For data collection, frequency of occurrence was used to evaluate prevalence of plant species in each sampling site. A total 137 plant species belonging to fifteen families were identified.The Asteraceae dominated with 22%, followed by Poaceae (17%), Gramineae (12%), Leguminoseae (9%), Sterculiaceae (8%), and Araceae (7%). Others were less dominant with Cyperaceae, Malvaceae, Anacardiaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Vitaceae, Annonaceae, Ongraceae, Bignoniaceae, and Fabaceae having 4%, 3%, 5%, 3%, 2%, 4%, 1%, 2%, and 1% respectively. Over all, the Asteraceae and Poaceae represented the dominant plant species across the sampled area which is an indication that they are spent engine oil tolerant and could be applied in phytoremediation technology.