A local member of the buttercup family, Aconitum noveboracense, or Northern wild monkshood, occurs at only two sites in Ohio: Crane Hollow State Nature Preserve in Hocking County and Gorge Metro Park in Summit county near Akron, Ohio. This species is listed as federally threatened and occurs in limited numbers in only three other states, growing in areas of high humidity and cool temperatures.

There are approximately 35 plants at the Akron site and a little more than twice that many in Hocking Co. The latter site is fairly stable, but salt run-off from a nearby road has caused alarming declines in the numbers of plants at Gorge Metro Park. In addition, an invasive, non-native plant has entered the site at Gorge and requires hand removal each week during the summer.

Working first with material from the Hocking Co. site, CREW scientists established tissue cultures of the Northern wild monkshood that could propagate shoots, produce roots, and ultimately provide plants for transfer to soil. These methods were then tested on samples from the Akron site, and, again, they successfully produced acclimated plants. As state and federal agencies are working together on a plan to divert the salt run-off at the Akron site, CREW is working closely with them to formulate a reintroduction/augmentation plan using plants produced through tissue culture.

In addition to tissue culture studies, CREW is also working to determine the extent of genetic diversity in these populations. Methods for sampling and comparing the DNA from individuals within the populations have been worked out, and it is anticipated that these procedures will be applied to each individual in the Akron population. The relationship of the Akron and the Hocking Co. populations is also being studied. Even though the Crane Hollow plants tentatively have been identified as Northern monkshood, they also show some features of the Southern monkshood (Acontium undulatum). Genetic analysis may help provide a more definite classification of the plants in Hocking Co.