Gold does not grow on trees, but it can be found through careful observation of the leaves, branches and bark of some of them.
Australian scientists say they have verified that the presence of gold particles in the foliage of the eucalyptus indicates the presence of deposits of the precious metal several meters below.
The finding would offer a new way to locate the coveted item in hard-to-reach places, according to the team.
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The research was published in the journal Nature Communications .
"We have found a lot of easy deposits in Australia and also in other parts of the world," said Mel Lintern, geochemist with the Commonwealth of Scientific and Industrial Research of Australia (CSIRO).
"Now we are trying to point to the search for more difficult ones, which are buried under tens of meters of river sediments and sand dunes, and the trees provide us with a method to achieve this."
Gold leaves
Image caption Scientists found traces of gold in eucalyptus leaves.
The gold particles had been found in the soil around the eucalyptus, but the researchers confirmed that the plants were also absorbing the element.
With the help of the Australian synchrotron - a vast machine that uses X-rays to break down matter with an extraordinary level of detail - they found traces of gold in the leaves, branches and bark of some trees.
Yes, in small quantities.
"We have made a calculation, and we would need 500 trees that grow on a gold field to extract enough gold from the trees to make a ring," said Lintern.
Bulging trees
However, the presence of the particles pointed to greater riches buried more than 30 meters below the trees in question.
"We believe that the trees act like a hydraulic pump, extract the water that gives them life with their roots and, in doing so, they get small dissolved particles of gold through the vascular system into the foliage," Lintern explained.
At present, the metal is found in outcrops, where the mineral is on the surface or is detected through exploratory drilling.
But the researchers said the vegetation analysis offers a better method to find untapped gold deposits.
"We not only believe that it is a way to make better use of the money that is invested in exploration -because the analysis of these deposits can be quite expensive-, but it also minimizes the damage to the environment, because we are taking a very small sample of the trees themselves, as well as leaves and branches collected from the ground, "added the specialist.
The researchers said the technique could also be used to find other minerals such as iron, copper and lead in other parts of the world.