Scientists Have Found A ‘Super Plant’ That Eats Road Pollution

A Plant Solution To Air Pollution

Climate change has been a long-time issue that scientists have been trying to fight against, and it looks like there’s a special “super plant” that has been discovered to help with the ever-growing issue of road pollution. Searching for solutions to issues including massive heatwaves, dangerous floods, and toxic air pollution, has been a continuous battle for environmentalists and scientists alike. Luckily, there is the Cotoneaster shrub, a red-berry bushy plant, has recently been discovered by scientists to absorb the pollution permeating in the air on busy roads. The world’s leading gardening charity, known as the Royal Horticultural Society, or RHS, recently provided scientific research via their website, res.org.uk, where they compared various plant life and their abilities to soak up air pollution. In this research, they’ve discovered that various shrubbery, including Cotoneaster, have been able to assist in helping plant life thrive by saturating polluted air specifically near roads that are known for having heavy traffic.

The Cotoneaster ‘Super Plant’

It was evident, according to the RHS head researcher Dr. Tijana Blanusa, that shrub species with leaves that are rougher and hairier were better capable of absorbing air pollution than other shrubs. Compared to Red Cedar and similar shrubs, Cotoneaster showed the most progress in soaking up air pollution on busy roads. RHS scientists explain that the discovery of the Cotoneaster’s abilities is an environmental breakthrough similar to that of ivy cooling buildings by growing along the walls or even Hawthorn and Privet helping to reduce potential flooding and slowing the intensity of summer rainfall. Being a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Cotoneaster is native to Asia, parts of Europe, and regions in north Africa. This shrub consists of long, dense shoots that play a major part in soaking up pollution. This powerful shrub species is used as larval food for species including mottled umber, winter moths and hawthorn moths. The flowers and berries of the Cotoneaster attract bees, butterflies and blackbirds as well.

Cultivation Uses

Cotoneaster is a popular garden shrub due to their attractive habit and deliciously decorative fruit. Because of this, Cotoneaster shrubs have made their way to places including Australia and America (mainly in California). And although there are few species of Cotoneaster found in Europe, they’re relatively located in regions in the United Kingdom and Ireland. In China, Cotoneaster can be found in various provinces, including Guizhou, Sichuan, Tibet, and Yunnan. Other parts of Asia include northern Thailand as well.

Cotoneaster Berries

Although blackbirds have been known to eat the berries of Cotoneaster, these berries are actually toxic to dogs and poisonous to humans. These berries should not be consumed. According to gardenersworld.com, the berries can cause a stomach upset or diarrhea if ingested.

Super Properties Of The Cotoneaster

To reiterate, the properties of the Cotoneaster shrubs have shown the researchers of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) that said shrubs are capable of absorbing air pollution and basically help with climate issues such as flooding and dangerous heat waves. Cotoneaster also help the environment by benefiting gardens and wildlife. However, because Cotoneaster isn’t as effective in absorbing pollution in less dense areas and lighter polluted areas, the shrub is key to helping other plant life and certain wildlife if it is mixed with complementary shrub species that are similar to Cotoneaster. The properties of Cotoneaster, however, is an ideal plant to place in heavily polluted areas, including heavy traffic roads and cities along with other dense shrub species of plant like Hawthorn shrubbery. Cotoneaster has recently proven to be a shrub that is more likely to absorb almost the same amount of pollution emitting from a car on a half a thousand-mile drive in as little as a week, according to Dr. Tijana Blanusa. This makes the shrub more effective that similar shrubbery by almost 25% according to RHS scientists.

Cotoneaster And Wintertime

One concern with Cotoneaster’s abilities to absorb pollution however, is its loss of leaves during the wintertime. One of the main reasons for their pollution absorbing capabilities seems to be due to the dense leaves that are hairy. And according to www.telegraph.co.uk, Cotoneaster shrubs tend to lose their leaves during the wintertime. Their shoots do however remain long and thick despite the fact that the leaves fall off in the winter.  And so it’s possible that this could still help Cotoneaster soak up some air pollution, even if the shrub doesn’t soak up as much as it could with it’s leaves and flowers in full bloom during the spring and summertime. The RHS will continue to do research on Cotoneaster shrubs and similar species to see which plants are the most capable of helping the environment by absorbing air pollution, helping with massive heatwaves and slowing the possibilities of heavy floods.