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Plants
perform photosynthesis, using their leaves to convert light energy from
the Sun, water and CO2 into stored chemical energy in the form of
starch and sugars (which we can eat, e.g. potatoes, corn etc). O2 is
produced as a waste product. The captured carbon is also used for growth
and all the structure of a tree comes from CO2 in the air, not from the
ground. This article from the Royal Society of Biology explores the
radiotrophic fungi from Chernobyl, discovered in the late 1980s, that
appeared to have been using gamma radiation for growth. Gamma radiation
is a type of electromagnetic radiation, produced during atomic decay.
It's on the same EM spectrum as light, UV, infrared, radio waves and
X-rays, but has a much higher frequency and shorter wavelength.
This article in The Biologist, the journal of the Royal Society of Biology has more information.