I'm looking for information about native plants adapted to various kinds
of stressful environments, particularly salt and heavy metals. It's my
firm belief that plants can take care of soil and water better than
facilities made of concrete and other man-made materials. And I prefer
to use native plants, because they are unlikely to turn out to be
invasive, and because they are more likely than exotics to form
collaborative relationships with soil organisms and above-ground wildlife.

I'm currently working on a grad school project to design a landscape for
a vacant lot which will divert stormwater from the street into the lot
to be filtered and slowed down. Most vacant lots previously had
buildings on them, which means they now have fill dirt, and infiltration
facilities are not permitted on fill. So the water has to be returned
to the storm drain system, but some will evaporate and the rest will be
returned slowly, reducing the volume of fast-flowing water during the storm.

The man at Baltimore's Dept. of Public Works who issues permits for this
kind of thing says a solution would be very valuable, and could be used
on many vacant lots throughout the city. If I can get this to work, it
could have a very significant impact. Did you know that much of
Baltimore's stormwater is piped directly into the Inner Harbor? And it
carries cadmium, copper, chromium, lead, and other heavy metals, mostly
from tires, some from diesel exhaust, and some from old lead paint. And
road salt, in winter.

If you have seen plants either survive or be harmed by road salt, air
pollution (e.g. from bus exhaust at a bus stop), or heavy metals (e.g.,
lead paint chips in the soil), I'd like to know about it.

Also, if you know of published information please tell me. I have
Dirr's Manual of Woody Landscape Plants, which has this kind of
information for many trees and shrubs. Is there something comparable
for herbaceous plants? I also have Md. Dept. of Environment's
Stormwater Design Manual, which has a long list of plants, indicating
tolerance to salt and pollution. The only plant listed as tolerant to
both is Eastern white pine. Most likely this is a list of known
tolerance, i.e., no check mark means no knowledge, not no tolerance.

Your help will be much appreciated.

Louisa Thompson
Institute of Architecture and Planning
Morgan State University
Baltimore, MD