These botanical alchemists quietly collect metals like nickel, copper, zinc and yes, even gold (Image: AI Generated)

Gold has always fascinated humans, gleaming as jewelry, serving as a hedge in hard times, and carrying an almost mythical aura. But the story of gold begins far beyond our mines and markets.

Scientists say this precious metal was born in the violent explosions of distant stars, drifting across space before embedding itself in the young Earth. When you hold a piece of gold, you are touching a fragment of cosmic history that has traveled through time and universe alike.

What’s even stranger is that certain plants can draw specks of that stardust straight out of the ground. The process is known as phytomining or biomining, where some species absorb metals through their roots and concentrate them in their stems, leaves, and flowers.

These botanical alchemists quietly collect metals like nickel, copper, zinc and yes, even gold. Although the amounts are minuscule, the science is real and surprisingly elegant.

Eucalyptus: The Deep Digger

Eucalyptus trees, familiar across India and Australia, send their roots far beneath the surface, probing for water and nutrients. When those roots encounter gold-bearing rock, the trees absorb microscopic particles of the metal and store them in their leaves.

Australian scientists have confirmed that flakes of gold can be detected in eucalyptus foliage, proving that nature sometimes performs its own underground mining.

Sunflowers: Bright and Metal-Hungry

Sunflowers, those tall yellow faces that follow the arc of the sun, are more than cheerful garden ornaments. They are also capable of pulling heavy metals from the soil and depositing them in their stalks and leaves. Tests on sunflower plants have revealed faint but measurable traces of gold, a reminder that their beauty hides a surprising talent for extraction.

The humble mustard plant, known for adding sharpness to curries and pickles, has an equally sharp knack for pulling metals from the earth. Indian mustard, or Brassica juncea, grows quickly and is remarkably efficient at absorbing heavy metals.

Researchers have found that it can take up tiny particles of gold along with other minerals, quietly storing them in its leafy greens and stems.

Corn marigold, with its small sunflower-like blooms, has also been recorded drawing gold from the ground. Alfalfa joins this quiet club of collectors, concentrating trace metals as it grows. Though these plants cannot create gold from nothing, their ability to gather what lies hidden in the soil makes them unique natural miners.

The Catch

Before you rush to plant a backyard gold farm, there is a practical reality: the amount of gold these plants accumulate is microscopic. Extracting it is so expensive that it currently costs more than the gold itself.

For now, phytomining is more valuable as a tool for cleaning polluted soils than for striking it rich. Still, the idea that ordinary plants can pull ancient stardust into their leaves shows how the natural world keeps surprising us, revealing new ways that the universe’s oldest treasures still find their way into living things.