Ramsar international wetlands of Alagol, Almagol and Ajigol with a surface of 3027 ha are located in the vast
Turkmen-Sahra plains (Golestan prov.) in east of Caspian Sea and in the vicinity of the Iran-Turkmenistan
political border. Flora, vegetation and habitat diversity of the wetlands were surveyed during growing seasons of
2014 and 2015. A total of 159 plant taxa belonging to 123 genera and 42 families were determined in the studied
wetlands. Asteraceae, Amaranthaceae (including Chenopodiaceae) and Poaceae were the most species rich
families and Suaeda, Salsola, Atriplex, Plantago and Tamarix were the most species rich genera. A floristic analysis
indicated that therophytes and pluriregional elements predominated life form and chorological spectra,
respectively. Studied sites were physiognomically classified into aquatic, emergent, and dry upland habitats
which represent 6, 68 and 26 percent of all plant taxa, respectively. Halophytic species constitute a large part of
flora, among them Puccinellia poecilantha recently recorded in the area is considered as a rare plant. The results
may be applied in designing conservation areas and developing conservation strategies for this unique wetland
ecosystem
