Chinese team finds a fern that makes rare earth elements

Scientists have discovered a fern from South China that naturally forms tiny crystals containing rare earth elements (REEs). This breakthrough opens the door to a promising new way of "green mining" of these minerals called phytomining.

REEs are a group of 17 elements, all metals with similar properties that are essential for everything from wind turbines and electric car batteries to smartphones and medical scanners. As their name suggests, they are rare, typically occurring at low concentrations in Earth's crust.

Extracting them is expensive and normally involves large-scale conventional mining operations that rely on harsh chemicals and cause significant pollution and land damage. That's why researchers are exploring cleaner, sustainable plant-based alternatives to collect REEs.

Researchers studied the Blechnum orientale fern, which had been collected from REE-rich areas in South China. It was already known to be a hyperaccumulator, which is a plant that can grow in soil and water with high concentrations of metals and absorb them through its roots.

But what they didn't know was the chemical form the REEs take when inside the plant. This knowledge is vital for designing the most efficient extraction process.

Image source: He et al. (2025), Environmental Science & Technology.