Fern Grows Rare‑Earth Mineral Crystals — Could Unlock a Greener Route to Critical Metals

09:50 AM, 11/23/2025

Researchers report that the fern Blechnum orientale forms the rare‑earth mineral monazite within its tissues, incorporating elements such as neodymium, lanthanum and cerium. High‑resolution microscopy and chemical analyses revealed self‑organized "chemical garden" crystals — the first documented case of plants producing REE minerals in planta. The discovery suggests phytomining could become a lower‑impact route to recover critical metals, though methods for extracting and processing the plant‑bound minerals still need development.

Scientists have discovered that the fern Blechnum orientale can form rare‑earth mineral crystals inside its own tissues — a finding that could reshape how we obtain metals vital to clean energy and modern electronics.

What the researchers found

Using high‑resolution microscopy and chemical analysis, researchers observed the rare‑earth phosphate mineral monazite self‑assembling within the plant as a kind of "chemical garden." The crystals contained elements such as neodymium, lanthanum and cerium. According to the study's authors from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, this is the first recorded instance of a plant producing REE‑bearing minerals in planta under ordinary surface conditions.

"Rare earth elements (REEs) are critical metals for clean energy and high‑tech applications, yet their supply faces environmental and geopolitical challenges," the researchers write. "Phytomining, a green strategy using hyperaccumulator plants to extract metals from soil, offers potential for sustainable REE supply but remains underexplored."

Why this matters

There are 17 rare‑earth elements that are essential components of wind turbines, electric motors, smartphones, broadband infrastructure and many medical devices. Although REEs are relatively abundant in the Earth's crust, economically viable extraction typically requires energy‑intensive mining and complex processing. If plants can concentrate REEs as mineral phases like monazite, it opens the possibility of phytomining — harvesting plants to recover critical metals with a much lower environmental footprint.

Next steps and challenges

The research team emphasizes that more work is needed to determine whether this phenomenon is unique to B. orientale or occurs in other species; preliminary hints exist for the fern Dicranopteris linearis but direct evidence is not yet available. Major technical hurdles remain, including efficient methods to harvest and extract monazite from plant tissues and to separate it into individual REEs without excessive loss or contamination.

Despite these challenges, the finding reveals an alternative pathway for monazite mineralization under mild conditions and highlights plants' unexpected role in initiating mineral formation. The study was published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

Fern Grows Rare‑Earth Mineral Crystals — Could Unlock a Greener Route to Critical Metals

What the researchers found

Why this matters

Next steps and challenges

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