D. Cocking et al., EFFECTS OF ROOT MORPHOLOGY AND HG CONCENTRATION IN THE SOIL ON UPTAKEBY TERRESTRIAL VASCULAR PLANTS, Water, air and soil pollution, 80(1-4), 1995, pp. 1113-1116
Vascular plant tissues of various species growing on flood plain soils
along the South River at Waynesboro, VA, have previously been shown t
o contain Hg. These soils characteristically contain 10-20 mu g Hg g(-
1). In the field, root/rhizome Hg content in Asclepias syriaca and Sol
idago sp. ranged from undetectable amounts at low Hg control sites to
1.96 mu g Hg gdw(-1) at contaminated sites, with the association being
inversely related to subterranean organ size. Within each size class,
tissue Hg was directly related to soil Hg concentration. The relation
ship of subterranean organ size and enhanced Hg association was furthe
r substantiated by high levels of Hg in the fibrous root systems of gr
asses grown under greenhouse conditions.