Abstract:

Abstract: With the rapid development of mining industry, metallic tailings are affecting the growth and development of plants to a great degree. The current study examined experimentally the tolerance mechanisms of Gramineous and Liliaceous weeds to the increasing concentrations of heavy metals (tolerance index) by using root elongation experiments. 5mg/L, 10mg/L, 20mg/L, 50mg/L and 100 mg/L Cu2+ were applied for 14 days to dermine the physiological and growth index of plants. The results indicated that low-concentration Cu2+ has promoted, while the high concentration Cu2+ inhibited plant growth. Contaminated by Cu2+, both the tolerance indexes of Festuca rubra and Ophiopogon japonicus declined. By contrast, O. japonicus was more tolerant to the stress of heavy metals than F. rubra. O. japonicus therefore is a preferential plant for the restoration of soils contaminated by heavy metals and the rehabitation of tailings wasteland.