accumulator plants

Plants which accumulate unusually large amounts of particular elements; includes facultative accumulators, e.g. Aster, Atriplex spp. which accumulate a particular element, e.g. selenium, but can grow quite well without it, and obligate accumulators which only grow in soils where high concentrations of the elements exist, e.g. Oonopsis, Xylorrhiza and some Astragalus spp.