Manganese

Hyperaccumulation threshold: 10,000 µg g⁻¹ [ref] Primary

Manganese hyperaccumulators are predominantly woody species from the tropics and subtropics, especially Australia, New Caledonia and East Asia. Unlike Zn/Cd hyperaccumulators they do not necessarily grow on strongly metalliferous soils, suggesting a distinct physiological strategy.

11 species recorded in this database; highest cited value 55,200 µg g⁻¹.

		Metal			Region	Uptake	Verify
Antidesma puncticulatum	Phyllanthaceae	Mn Manganese	46,400	4.6×	Malaysia (Sabah, Borneo)	Obligate	primary
Celosia argenteasilver cockscomb	Amaranthaceae	Mn Manganese	14,238	1.4×	China, pantropical	Facultative	primary
Chengiopanax sciadophylloides	Araliaceae	Mn Manganese	20,000	2×	Japan	Obligate	review
Denhamia fournieri	Celastraceae	Mn Manganese	10,000	1×	New Caledonia	Obligate	review
Gossia acmenoidesscrub ironwood	Myrtaceae	Mn Manganese	39,000	3.9×	Australia (Queensland)	Obligate	primary
Gossia bidwilliipython tree	Myrtaceae	Mn Manganese	19,200	1.9×	Australia (Queensland)	Obligate	primary
Gossia fragrantissimasweet myrtle	Myrtaceae	Mn Manganese	17,400	1.7×	Australia (Queensland, New South Wales)	Obligate	primary
Grevillea exul	Proteaceae	Mn Manganese	12,000	1.2×	New Caledonia	Facultative	review
Phytolacca acinosaIndian pokeweed	Phytolaccaceae	Mn Manganese	19,300	1.9×	East Asia	Facultative	review
Phytolacca americanaAmerican pokeweed	Phytolaccaceae	Mn Manganese	13,400	1.3×	North America, naturalised in East Asia	Facultative	review
Virotia neurophylla	Proteaceae	Mn Manganese	55,200	5.5×	New Caledonia	Obligate	review

Manganese news & analysis

Research, industry and conservation context for Manganese hyperaccumulation and phytoremediation.

Literature

Manganese detoxification has a map inside a Celosia leaf — the tip takes the hit, protein binding takes the metal, and the stomata throttle the whole system

September 6, 2026 · Zhang et al. (2026), BMC Plant Biology

A hydroponic dose series in the manganese accumulator Celosia argentea shows uptake efficiency is humped — bioconcentration peaks at 365× at 50 mg/L and falls to 234× by 150 mg/L — and that within each leaf the transpiration terminus at the tip is where the damage, and the protein-based detox chemistry, both concentrate.

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Literature

A timber tree clears the manganese hyperaccumulation line — but manganese is the wrong metal to mine

August 14, 2026 · Liaquat, Gulzar, Malik, Rehman, Munis, Kim, Zhang, Du, Shang & Liu (2026), Industrial Crops and Products

A common subtropical timber tree, Schima superba, banks up to 13,487 µg/g of manganese in its leaves — enough to cross the hyperaccumulation threshold — but the metal is too cheap and the wood too slow-growing for phytomining, which makes this a restoration story, not a mining one.

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Literature

Acid-digesting 234 herbarium sheets maps the metal hoarders of Angola — and they hoard the wrong metals

August 3, 2026 · Morgenstern, Baumgärtel, Lautenschläger, Götzke, Neinhuis & Weigand (2026), Environmental Monitoring and Assessment

A herbarium screen adds ~28 aluminium accumulators and one manganese hyperaccumulator (Landolphia congolensis, ~20,900 µg g⁻¹) to the flora of Angola — but nothing new for nickel, cobalt or copper, and the arithmetic in the paper shows the metals it found are barely worth harvesting.

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