ABSTRACT
Plant populations colonizing metalliferous soils have developed a series of physiological and biochemical adaptations in order to overcome metal toxicities and the physical and chemical stresses frequently associated with such soils. The potential of metal-accumulating plants to detoxify soils polluted with heavy metals was demonstrated in glasshouse studies with hyperaccumulators from western Europe and the Aegean. The idea of using hyperaccumulator plants to phytoextract metals from industrially polluted soil was first tested on land managed by Rothamsted Experimental Station. A metal-polluted field managed by Rothamsted Experimental Station was used. Soil samples were taken from each main plot at the beginning of the experiment. Excluders should possess the lowest concentrations and these should not increase along the soil metal gradient. Some difficulties were encountered in growing these wild species, and substantial variation in individual plant yields and metal concentrations existed.
