The uptake and transpiration of water and the accumulation of lead by plants growing on lead chloride solutions

Abstract

The placement of approximately two week-old bean, cucumber and wheat plants in PbCl₂ solutions caused significant decreases in transpiration and uptake of water. The amount of transpiration and water uptake depended on the PbCl₂ concentration and length of treatment. Cucumber plants were the most sensitive to lead and accumu-lated the. greatest amounts of it. Beans were the least sensitive, although they accumulated more lead than wheat. The lead taken up by cucumbers and beans accumulated mainly in the roots while the distribution of lead in wheat was rather uniform in the roots and above-ground parts. The removal of roots from bean plants caused high accumulation of lead in the lower stem parts.