The study was undertaken to assess the phytoremediation potential of four plants (Sida acuta, Ricinus communis, Calotropis procera, Cassia fistula) growing at a tannery sludge disposal site. Results showed that maximum amount of K, Fe and Ni was associated with residual fraction, whereas, Zn, Mn, Cr, Pb, Cd and Co was found in Fe-Mn oxide fraction. Cut and Na were mostly associated with organic matter and carbonate fraction, respectively. The results demonstrated that the levels of accumulation of metals was found high in all the studied plants and followed the order; C procera > S. acuta > R. communis = C fistula. The principal components analysis (PCA) revealed that translocation behavior of Cu, Zn and Mn, Cr were found similar in the plants. Correlation analysis between metal accumulation in the plants with DTPA extractable metals emphasized that S. acitta and C. fistula provide better value of correlation for most of the tested metals. The values of transfer factor were also found high for most of the tested metals in the plants of S. acuta. Overall, the plants of S. acuta and C fistula were found suitable for the decontamination of most of the metals from tannery waste contaminated sites. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.