Aeolanthus biformifolius
Synonym: Aeollanthus biformifolius
Accumulation profile
- Substrate
- Cu–Co mineralised soils
- Habitat
- Copperbelt metalliferous grassland
- Distribution
- DR Congo (Katanga/Copperbelt)
- First reported
- 2019 · van der Ent et al.
- Verification
- review-cited
Description & ecology
The most extreme copper accumulator, reaching ~1 wt% (10,000 µg/g) Cu in living tissue. van der Ent et al. (2019) used SEM-EDS and synchrotron XAS to show the Cu enrichment is endogenous (Cu–carboxylic-acid complexes), NOT surficial mineral-dust contamination.
Copper records are treated cautiously; this one is retained because the 2019 study specifically controlled for contamination.
References
- van der Ent, A., Malaisse, F., Erskine, P. D., Mesjasz-Przybyłowicz, J., Przybyłowicz, W. J., Barnabas, A. D., Sośnicka, M., & Harris, H. H. (2019). Abnormal concentrations of Cu–Co in Haumaniastrum katangense, Haumaniastrum robertii and Aeolanthus biformifolius: contamination or hyperaccumulation?. Metallomics, 11, 586–596. doi:10.1039/c8mt00300a
- van der Ent, A., Baker, A. J. M., Reeves, R. D., Pollard, A. J., & Schat, H. (2013). Hyperaccumulators of metal and metalloid trace elements: facts and fiction. Plant and Soil, 362, 319–334. doi:10.1007/s11104-012-1287-3