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In order to assess the tolerance of the highly invasive weed Fallopia japonica to heavy metals, a greenhouse experiment was conducted in which this plant was cultivated in control soil and in the soils polluted by different levels of Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb and Zn. The content of heavy metals in soil did not eliminate the F. japonica rhizome's capacity to regenerate. However, at the beginning of the experiment, the presence of some metal doses: Cd (100, 200 mg•kg-1), Pb (200 mg•kg-1) and Zn (300 mg•kg-1) delayed the rhizome regeneration compared to the control plants. In the soils contaminated with any level of Cr or Pb, shoots grew with similar vigour to the control plants. Only the high doses of Cd (100, 200 mg•kg-1), Cu (300 mg•kg-1) and Zn (300 mg•kg-1) significantly delayed the plants' growth. The morphological features of F. japonica from the soils polluted with Cr and Pb were not significantly different from the control plants. Among the tested heavy metals that had the greatest impact on the morphology of F. japonica were Cd (100, 200 mg•kg-1), Cu (300 mg•kg-1) and Zn (300 mg•kg-1). A chemical analysis indicated that this weed accumulated large quantities of metals when cultivated in the contaminated soil. Particular attention was paid to its relatively high Cd uptake. In the variant where a dose of 100 mg Cd•kg-1 was applied, the plants (aboveground part) accumulated more than 630 times the amount of cadmium found in the control. The abilities of F. japonica to regenerate from rhizome fragments, to grow and develop under the stress conditions created by heavy metals, and to take up metals are evidence that this plant is characterised by metal tolerance.

No abstract

Representatives of the Fallopia genus: Fallopia japonica, Fallopia sachalinensis and Fallopia × bohemica are known as successful invaders, wide spread throughout Europe and North America. This paper focuses on the invasive Fallopia complex and presents some features (a wide ecological amplitude, high competition abilities, sexual reproduction by hybridization) responsible for the fact that all species of the Fallopia genus are aggressive and noxious invaders.

Pollution with heavy metals is one of the most noticeable environmental problems due to their adverse ecological effects reported by many publications [1-3]. Toxic metals contaminating the soils create difficult conditions for most plants growing in them. They may cause various morphological, physiological, and biochemical dysfunctions in plants, either directly or indirectly, and cause damaging effects [2]. Heavy metal toxicity in plants varies with plant species, specific metal, content of metal, its chemical form, soil composition and pH. Some metals, including Cu, Mg, Co, Zn and Cr, are essential to plants in trace amounts, but only when metals are present in bioavailable forms, and at excessive levels they have the potential to become toxic to plants [4]. Others, such as Mg,