To report on glasshouse and laboratory analysis of the distribution of manganese in the leaves of sunflower and lupin.

• Unusually high manganese concentrations are found in the leaves of manganese tolerant crops.
• We grew these 2 species in solution culture and examine the relationship between manganese and silicon implant tissues.
• Manganese is distributed differently in the leaves of lupin and sunflower.
• In sunflower manganese was found with silicon and calcium in the trichomes and the large vessels of the vascular bundle.
• In lupin the addition of silicon course increasing manganese concentrations in xylem vessels and also in vacuoles of spongy parenchyma.