New plant can clean up mining-contaminated soil

It’s a new plant species that feasts on metal. In mining sites, the Rinorea niccolifera, a nickel-eating shrub, would be valuable because it can reduce metal contamination in soil. Scientists said the newly discovered plant, first spotted in Zambales, is unique compared to other metallophytes because they can accumulate and tolerate metal elements at levels “100 times greater than those typically measured in leaves of the common non-accumulator plants” that grow in similar environments. Metallophytes thrive in rocks and soils rich in toxic heavy metals. They are useful in detoxifying metal-contaminated environments, scientists said.

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