Copper uptake and accumulation by perennial ryegrass grown in soil and solution culture

The plant processes of copper uptake by roots of perennial ryegrass and transport to shoots were examined after plants had been grown in either solution culture, or in soil, with wide ranges of copper additions. Although contents of both shoots and roots of plants grown in solution culture and in soil increased with increasing addition of copper, the increase in roots was very much greater than that in shoots in which the range of concentrations was small. A large proportion of uptake was retained by roots even when they had been damaged by toxicity. Copper accumulated in roots of plants grown in solution culture was not available for transport to shoots after further supply had been withdrawn, and large proportions of the retained copper were associated with cell walls. It was concluded that roots of perennial ryegrass restrict the movement of copper along the pathway soil‐plant‐animal.