A wetland plant, Phalaris arundinacea, accumulates nitrogen and phosphorus during senescence.

Secondary pollution resulting from shoot death is a difficult problem that complicated the application of wetland plants for water purification in northern wetlands. Phalaris arundinacea, a perennial herb with an obviously declining stage, or senescence, is a species that is often selected for water purification in Northern China; however, whether it reduces the secondary pollution risk via nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) accumulation during senescence or not remains unclear. To investigate this question, an experiment was conducted with containerized plants during the winter of 2016, after roughly half the leaves on the plants had withered. The experimental observations and analyses were conducted within 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks of the initiation of senescence. Results revealed that leaves continued to wither and shoot death occurred during weeks 4 to 6 and 8 to 10, respectively. However, no significant differences occurred in fresh biomass or in N and P accumulations of a single plant during senescence. The root biomass, root weight per volume, and total N content increased significantly, while total P content remained stable when leaves withered, respectively. H