Effects of Air Pollution on the Growth of 35 Garden Plants

Air monitoring data showed that acidic sulfate and toxic fluoride wer e the major source of pollutants from ceramic industry in Foshan city, Guangdong Province. Thirty-f ive garden plant species were grown in pots at two polluted sites near ceramic factories and a re latively clean site as control to measure the growth of plant height, basal diameter, crown cover, a nd the complex growth rate as indexes of pollution tolerance of the species. One to two-year-ol d seedlings incubated in pots for about 5 months of exposure to air pollutants were examined . The results indicate that all the species tested can be grouped into three types:Ⅰ. toleran t species (Ilex rotunda,Ficus religiosa, Ficus annulata, Lysidice rhodostegia, Ficus microcarpa, Camellia semiserrata, Heteropanax fragrans, Artocarpus hypargyreus);Ⅱ. middling tolerant species (Artocarpus styracifolius, Cassia fistula, Actinodaphne pilosa, Artocarpus nitid us ssp. lingnanensis, Camellia japonica, Kigelia africana, Spathodea campanulata, Mesua ferrea, Machil us salicina, Dolichandrone caudafelina, Fagraea ceilanica, Myrsine seguinii, Ormosia pinnata, Koelrcuteria bipinnata, Manglietia glauca, Gordonia axillaries, Pterocarpus indicus);and Ⅲ. sensitive species (Machilus chinensis, Manglietia hainanensis, Erythrophloeum fordii, Elaeocarpus japonicus, Jacaranda mimosifolia, Tsoongiodendron odorum, Heritiera parvifolia, Aquilaria s inensis, Michelia chapensis, Saraca chinensis).