Heavy metal accumulation in Pelargonium hortorum: Effects on growth and development

Ornamental plants have been proposed for growing in heavy metal (HM) contaminated soils, and also for phytoremediation. We evaluated (1) biomass production and (2) HM accumulation in Pelargonium hortorum. Plants were grown for 16 weeks on HM (cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, nickel and zinc) enriched soils. Treatments were i) control, non-enriched soil, ii) medium concentration treatment, and iii) high concentration treatment. Four destructive harvests were carried out, and roots, stems, leaves, and flowers were analyzed each time. Concentrations of HM were determined using ICP. Significant reductions in biomass production were observed in HM-enriched soils compared with the control. Different indexes confirmed that P hortorum was affected by HM. Heavy metals concentrations were higher in roots than shoots. Plant uptake rates of HM in roots and shoots showed different patterns for each element. Flowering was highly sensitive to soil HM concentrations.