Abstract. Soils in the Sudbury mining and smelting region have been rendered phytotoxic and barren by acidification and particulate metal contamination, but can be detoxified and revegetated by the surface application of ground limestone. On certain barren sites, plant growth is better on soil treated with dolomitic limestone than with calcitic limestone, and greenhouse experiments using mung beans (Vigna radiata) have shown superior root and shoot growth on certain contaminated soils when the limestone is dolomitic rather than calcitic. Results of experiments with species used in revegetation (Agrostis gigantea and Lotus corniculatus) suggest that leguminous species are more sensitive to Ca:Mg ratio than grasses, that the plant response to this ratio is greater at lower liming levels, and that the response is more marked on more toxic soils. The effects of calcium:magnesium ratio of the limestone used in revegetating acidic, metal-contaminated soils are clearly complex, interactive and difficult to interpret. Further studies are needed, but meanwhile it is recommended that the practice of using dolomitic limestone to detoxify barren Sudbury soils be continued, since there is a risk of induced magnesium deficiency at certain sites when calcitic limestone is used.