But don't play that stuff around plants with names like ragweed or Alpine pennycress. They like Heavy Metal . Long ago, European prospectors used these shrubs as a sign that metals lay hidden beneath the soil. Today, Chaney and other scientists want to use plants like pennycress to clean up soils contaminated with heavy metals. Hyper accumulator plants don't actually eat metals.
Scientists believe it makes the plants less tasty to hungry insects.
It makes them more valuable. It may help them fight off diseases. It prolongs their blooming season. Plants like pennycress or ragweed take a long time to suck up metals. But Chaney and other scientists think they can speed things up.