Berkheya zeyheri
Accumulation profile
- Substrate
- Ultramafic (serpentine)
- Habitat
- Serpentine grassland
- Distribution
- South Africa
- First reported
- 2025 · Greyling & Pillay
- Verification
- primary-measured
Description & ecology
Leaf Ni measured at 9,240–12,860 µg/g, with chelidonic and malic acid as the dominant organic-acid ligands; the hyperaccumulating taxon is B. zeyheri subsp. rehmannii var. rogersiana.
One of only five confirmed South African nickel hyperaccumulators, all Asteraceae (Mesjasz-Przybyłowicz et al. 2020).
References
- Greyling, S., & Pillay, L. (2025). Chemical analysis in Berkheya zeyheri: a South African nickel hyperaccumulator. International Journal of Phytoremediation, 27, 2031–2039. doi:10.1080/15226514.2025.2532748
- Reeves, R. D., Baker, A. J. M., Jaffré, T., Erskine, P. D., Echevarria, G., & van der Ent, A. (2018). A global database for plants that hyperaccumulate metal and metalloid trace elements. New Phytologist, 218, 407–411. doi:10.1111/nph.14907