Ni

Nickel

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

Nickel is by far the largest and best-studied hyperaccumulation group, with well over 400 known taxa. Most grow on ultramafic (serpentine) soils enriched in Ni, Co and Cr. Classic examples span the Mediterranean Odontarrhena (formerly Alyssum), New Caledonian trees such as Pycnandra acuminata, and Southeast Asian Phyllanthus and Rinorea. Several are cultivated for nickel agromining.

47 species recorded in this database; highest cited value 48,700 µg g⁻¹.

Metal Region Uptake Verify
Actephila alanbakeri Phyllanthaceae Ni Nickel 11,520 11.5× Malaysia (Sabah, Borneo) Obligate review
Antidesma montis-silam Phyllanthaceae Ni Nickel 18,100 18.1× Malaysia (Sabah, Borneo) Obligate primary
Arachnothryx linguiformis Rubiaceae Ni Nickel 12,760 12.8× Guatemala (Sierra Santa Cruz, Juan de Paz) Obligate primary
Berkheya coddii Asteraceae Ni Nickel 11,600 11.6× South Africa (Mpumalanga) Obligate review
Berkheya zeyheri Asteraceae Ni Nickel 12,860 12.9× South Africa Obligate primary
Bornmuellera emarginata Brassicaceae Ni Nickel 34,000 34× Greece Obligate review
Bornmuellera tymphaea Brassicaceae Ni Nickel 31,200 31.2× Greece Obligate review
Chionanthus panamensis Oleaceae Ni Nickel 6,810 6.8× Guatemala (Izabal), Mexico (Chiapas) Facultative primary
Dichapetalum gelonioides Dichapetalaceae Ni Nickel 30,260 30.3× Malaysia (Sabah, Borneo) Obligate primary
Flacourtia kinabaluensis Salicaceae Ni Nickel 7,280 7.3× Malaysia (Sabah, Borneo) Obligate review
Geissois pruinosa Cunoniaceae Ni Nickel 15,000 15× New Caledonia Obligate review
Glochidion mindorense Phyllanthaceae Ni Nickel 2,280 2.3× Malaysia (Sabah, Borneo) Obligate review
Hybanthus floribundusshrub violet Violaceae Ni Nickel 13,500 13.5× Australia (Western Australia) Facultative review
Kibara coriacea Monimiaceae Ni Nickel 5,840 5.8× Malaysia (Sabah, Borneo) Obligate review
Leucocroton flavicans Euphorbiaceae Ni Nickel 26,000 26× Cuba Obligate review
Mayanaea caudata Violaceae Ni Nickel 5,390 5.4× Guatemala (Izabal) Facultative primary
Mischocarpus sundaicus Sapindaceae Ni Nickel 4,425 4.4× Malaysia (Sabah, Borneo) Obligate review
Noccaea caerulescensalpine pennycress Brassicaceae Ni Nickel 12,000 12× Western & Central Europe Facultative review
Noccaea cappadocica Brassicaceae Ni Nickel 48,700 48.7× Turkey (Cappadocia) Obligate primary
Noccaea goesingensis Brassicaceae Ni Nickel 12,000 12× Austria, Central Europe Obligate review
Odontarrhena chalcidica Brassicaceae Ni Nickel 22,000 22× Balkans, Anatolia Obligate review
Odontarrhena inflata Brassicaceae Ni Nickel 2,720 2.7× Iran (western ultramafics) Obligate primary
Odontarrhena lesbiaca Brassicaceae Ni Nickel 20,000 20× Greece (Lesbos), Anatolia Obligate review
Odontarrhena penjwinensis Brassicaceae Ni Nickel 3,270 3.3× Iran (western ultramafics) Obligate primary
Odontarrhena serpyllifolia Brassicaceae Ni Nickel 15,000 15× Iberian Peninsula, France Obligate review
Odontarrhena vourinensis Brassicaceae Ni Nickel 18,700 18.7× Greece (Mt. Vourinos, western Macedonia) Obligate primary
Orthion guatemalense Violaceae Ni Nickel 5,100 5.1× Guatemala (Lago Izabal, endemic) Facultative primary
Orthion montanum Violaceae Ni Nickel 5,850 5.8× Mexico (Chiapas) Obligate primary
Orthion subsessile Violaceae Ni Nickel 18,700 18.7× Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Nicaragua Obligate primary
Orthion veracruzense Violaceae Ni Nickel 4,290 4.3× Mexico (Veracruz, Los Tuxtlas; also Chiapas) Facultative primary
Phyllanthus balgooyi Phyllanthaceae Ni Nickel 16,000 16× Borneo (Sabah), Philippines (Palawan) Obligate primary
Phyllanthus rufuschaneyi Phyllanthaceae Ni Nickel 25,060 25.1× Borneo (Sabah) Obligate primary
Phyllanthus securinegioides Phyllanthaceae Ni Nickel 23,300 23.3× Malaysia (Sabah, Borneo) Obligate review
Psychotria costivenia Rubiaceae Ni Nickel 20,140 20.1× Mexico (Chiapas, Veracruz), Guatemala Facultative primary
Psychotria gabriellae Rubiaceae Ni Nickel 47,500 47.5× New Caledonia Obligate review
Psychotria grandis Rubiaceae Ni Nickel 11,740 11.7× Neotropics; measured specimens from Guatemala (Izabal) Facultative primary
Psychotria sarmentosa Rubiaceae Ni Nickel 24,200 24.2× Malaysia (Sabah, Borneo), Philippines Obligate review
Pycnandra acuminata Sapotaceae Ni Nickel 11,700 11.7× New Caledonia Obligate primary
Rinorea bengalensis Violaceae Ni Nickel 17,500 17.5× Southeast Asia, Melanesia Facultative review
Rinorea niccolifera Violaceae Ni Nickel 18,388 18.4× Philippines (Luzon) Obligate primary
Sarcotheca celebica Oxalidaceae Ni Nickel 1,039 1× Indonesia (Sulawesi) Obligate review
Senecio conrathii Asteraceae Ni Nickel 2,659 2.7× South Africa (Mpumalanga, Barberton Greenstone Belt) Facultative primary
Senecio coronatus Asteraceae Ni Nickel 5,700 5.7× South Africa Facultative review
Stackhousia tryonii Celastraceae Ni Nickel 41,300 41.3× Australia (Queensland) Obligate review
Streptanthus polygaloidesmilkwort jewelflower Brassicaceae Ni Nickel 14,800 14.8× USA (California) Obligate review
Walsura pinnata Meliaceae Ni Nickel 4,580 4.6× Malaysia (Sabah, Borneo) Obligate review
Xylosma luzoniensis Salicaceae Ni Nickel 5,360 5.4× Malaysia (Sabah, Borneo), Philippines (Luzon) Obligate review

Nickel news & analysis

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

Literature

A ⁶¹Ni tracer baked into synthetic saponite exposes a quiet uptake channel in Odontarrhena chalcidica — a fifth of shoot Ni came from the amendment on a low-Ni ultramafic soil, and every bulk measurement said nothing happened

September 7, 2026 · Trimmel et al. (2026), Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry

Stable-isotope tracing shows Odontarrhena chalcidica quietly mined a ⁶¹Ni-labelled saponite amendment for 19.3 ± 5.0% of its shoot Ni on a low-Ni ultramafic soil (7.7 ± 1.8% on a high-Ni one) — uptake that total-Ni budgets and DGT both registered as zero.

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Industry

Shade is a metal-removal budget — a Sicilian agrivoltaic-phytoremediation study prices the metal-rich ash only as a liability

September 5, 2026 · Di Agosto et al. (2026), Environmental Science and Pollution Research

A simulation study pairing hemp, vetiver and giant reed with photovoltaic panels over Sicily's Augusta petrochemical site finds contamination and panel shade each strip 15–50% of biomass — and models the gasification ash, where the metals concentrate, strictly as a €100–200-per-tonne disposal cost.

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Database

A 52-element census of 5,474 plant samples shows hyperaccumulators are the tail of the distribution, and what number-only screens miss

September 3, 2026 · Coker et al. (2026), ACS Environmental Au

The median plant record in a new global elementome holds 1.7 mg kg⁻¹ nickel while the database mean sits at 167 — a ~98× skew that is the hyperaccumulator signal itself, and the same study's threshold screen both recovers New Caledonia's nickel flora and crowns duckweed a "cadmium hyperaccumulator".

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Literature

In a maize pot trial, oxalic acid immobilized nickel instead of mobilizing it — cutting shoot uptake by half

August 13, 2026 · AL-Huqail et al. (2026), BMC Plant Biology

Low-molecular-weight organic acids are the classic chelators for pulling metal up into harvestable shoots; in this early-access pot study high-dose oxalic acid did the reverse — lowering bioavailable soil nickel and cutting maize shoot nickel by 53% while biomass rose 40% — a reminder that the acid, the dose and the intended endpoint decide whether you extract a metal or lock it down.

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Industry

Nickel phytomining off serpentine: a hyperaccumulator, an urban soil, and a shrinking labile pool

July 29, 2026 · Giunchino, Mucciarelli, Angus, Sordello, Borrelli, Lanfranco & Calza (2026), Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances

A pot trial runs the whole agromining chain — hyperaccumulate, ash, recover the metal — on nickel-spiked urban soil, and watches the readily mobile nickel drain away as it goes, a reminder that what a pot gives up need not match aged field ground.

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Literature

Two Malagasy daisies clear the nickel bar — a Valozoro serpentine survey nominates two Asteraceae as nickel hyperaccumulators

July 27, 2026 · Rasolondraibe, Farasoa & Rabesiaka (2026), Romanian Journal of Ecology & Environmental Chemistry

A field screen on a Madagascar nickel deposit turns up two Asteraceae above the 1,000 µg g⁻¹ threshold — extending, again, the family that already gives serpentine ecology Senecio coronatus and Berkheya, but on the strength of single samples that make these candidate records, not confirmed ones.

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