Concentrations of the elements N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Na, S, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Cd, Pb, Co and Cr were measured in two co-occurring wall-fissure plants, fern A. ruta-muraria and seed plant C. muralis, collected at 14 sites in urban, urban-rural and rural areas in Lower Silesia (SW Poland). Airborne particulate matter < 10 µm (PM₁₀) was used as indicators of metal contamination at the site where they were growing. Principal component analysis showed that in contrast to C. muralis, A. ruta-muraria from urban sites contained higher levels of Ca than those from urban-rural and rural sites. However, A. ruta-muraria from urban sites contained lower levels of K than those from urban-rural and rural sites. The Zn and Cd concentrations both in A. ruta-muraria and C. muralis were higher in urban sites, in the direct vicinity of the river, than those at other sites in the study area. PM₁₀ influenced some features of foliar elemental composition of the two species in different ways. In A. ruta-muraria, Ca, Zn and Cd increased in proportion to PM₁₀, while levels of K decreased and in C. muralis, Cd increased in proportion to PM₁₀, while levels of Ca and Cr decreased.