Credit: Environmental science and technology (2025). DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.5c09617
Scientists have discovered a fern from southern China that naturally forms tiny crystals containing rare earth elements (REEs). This advance opens the door to a promising new method of “green mining” of these minerals called phytomining.
REEs are a group of 17 elements, all metals with similar properties and essential to everything from wind turbines and electric car batteries to smartphones and medical scanners. As their name suggests, they are rare and generally found in low concentrations in the Earth’s crust.
Their extraction is expensive and normally involves large-scale conventional mining operations that rely on harsh chemicals and cause significant pollution and damage to soils. This is why researchers are exploring cleaner and more sustainable plant-based alternatives to collect REEs.
According to an article published in the journal Environmental science and technologyThe researchers studied the Blechnum Oriental fern, which had been collected from REE-rich areas of southern China. We already knew that it was a hyperaccumulator, that is to say a plant capable of growing in soil and water containing high concentrations of metals and absorbing them through its roots. But what they didn’t know was the chemical form the REEs took inside the plant. This knowledge is essential for designing the most efficient extraction process.
The fern that produces crystals
Using high-power imaging technology and chemical analysis, the team found that the fern formed nanoscale crystals of the REE-rich mineral monazite in its tissues, particularly in cell walls and spaces between cells. Monazite is one of the main sources of rare earth elements in geological deposits around the world.
The study authors also observed the crystal form, noting that it grows in a very complex self-organized pattern of tiny branches, comparing it to a microscopic “chemical garden.” This is the first time scientists have seen a living plant create a rare earth element crystal.
Can we garden for REEs?
While we may not have plans to garden REEs in the immediate future, the research is further proof that plant mining is feasible. This discovery, even with a single fern, reinforces the hypothesis that plants could one day provide a valuable, less expensive and less destructive method for extracting much-needed rare earth elements.
“Our results reveal a previously unknown, plant-mediated pathway for the formation of critical minerals in a supergene environment. This discovery not only sheds light on the enrichment and sequestration of REEs during chemical and biological weathering, but also opens new possibilities for the direct recovery of functional materials from REEs,” the researchers wrote.
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More information:
Liuqing He et al, Discovery and implications of a nanoscale rare earth mineral in a hyperaccumulator factory, Environmental science and technology (2025). DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.5c09617
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Quote: Chinese team finds fern that produces rare earth elements (November 13, 2025) retrieved November 13, 2025 from https://phys.org/news/2025-11-chinese-team-fern-rare-earth.html
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