Since the beginning of the Bronze Age the acquisition of
metals and the mastering of metal processing has been a
driving force in human civilisation. It is difficult to
imagine, however, how a plant could possibly profit from
accumulating excessive amounts of a metal for which there
is no metabolic need. Leaving behind an environmentally
degraded wasteland, human mining and smeltering activities
contributed to providing the niches for such plants,
sometimes even accomplishing seed dispersal – through
seeds attached to the boots of migrating miners. A stunning
example of this is found in the healthy populations of
Thlaspi caerulescens in the Cevennes (southern France),
the leaves of which have been found to contain the toxic
and non-essential metal cadmium (Cd) at concentrations
between 1000 and 3000 mg kg−1 dry biomass (R. D.
Reeves, unpublished). In this issue, experiments under
controlled experimental and glasshouse conditions are
reported, confirming an extraordinary level of Cd accumulation
and tolerance in these populations (Lombi
et al., pp. 11–20).