Abstract: | Mineral content (dry weight basis) was determined for herbariumspecimens of 12 C3 plants (trees, shrubs and herbs) collectedduring the last 250 years in N.E. Spain. Present values of Al,Ca, Cu, Sr, Fe, P, Mg, Mn, K, Na, S, and Zn were always lowerthan in any other period of the last three centuries. Only oneC4 plant was analysed. It presented a similar pattern to theC3 plants. These results are in accordance with experimentalresults that have shown that the mineral content of plants grownin elevated CO2 is generally lowered. Increased atmosphericCO2 and other anthropogenic environmental changes are suggestedas possible causes of the changes in mineral content. Key words: Leaf mineral content, Al, Ca, Cu, Sr, Fe, P, Mg, Mn, K, Na, S, Zn, herbaria, last three centuries |