Identification and chemical enhancement of two ornamental plants for phytoremediation

With an increase in the contamination of urban areas, more and more attention has been paid to the role of ornamental plants in remedying contaminated soils. Thus, cadmium (Cd) tolerance and accumulation characteristics of Calendula officinalis and Althaea rosea as ornamental plants under the concentration gradient experiment with single Cd, as well as the effect of ethylenegluatarotriacetic acid (EGTA) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) on their Cd phytoremediation capacity under the chemically enhanced experiment was further investigated. It was showed that they had strong tolerance and accumulation capacity of Cd under single Cd treatments, thus they had great potential to be used for Cd contaminated soil remediation. Furthermore, under chemically enhanced treatments, the great efficiency was found through applying EGTA and SDS, they could not only increase the dry biomass of the plants, but also promote the Cd accumulation in shoots and roots. Particularly, Althaea rosea can be regarded as a potential Cd-hyperaccumulator through applying chemical agents. In conclusion, the two ornamental plants are promising to be used for phytoremediation.