Abstract: Investigation on riparian plant species along 4 types of rivers in Zhejiang Province was made, i.e., the rivers in plain area, mountain area, hilly area and in the island area, to study on the role of vegetative measures in ecological amelioration of rivers. It was showed by the results that there were 1 033 vascular plant species and subspecies growing in riparian habitats in Zhejiang Province, belonging to 138 families. Among those there were 37 species of ferns from 18 families 7 species of gymnosperm plant species from 2 families, and 989 species of angiosperm plant species from 118 families. Based on the ecological characteristics, these riparian plants can be classified as 693 species of common plants, 210 species of hygrophytes and 130 species of hydrophytes. Among the hydrophytes, there were 75 species of emergent plants, 25 species of submerged plants, 19 species of floating-leaved plants, and 11 species of floating plants. Consequently, 95 species of plants were screened and were recommended be utilized for ecological amelioration of rivers in Zhejiang Province according to their ecological adaptability, community appetency, comprehensive functions and the landscaping values.