Ontario's threatened plant - Goldenseal - now has a recovery strategy

Over the past couple of years EARTHQUEST staff worked diligently with other plant species experts to write a recovery strategy for Ontario's population of threatened Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis).

                                                      Three year old plant                                                       Photo: Dave Jolly

Goldenseal is one of 72 vascular plant species listed on the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) Species at Risk in Ontario (SARO) site; https://www.ontario.ca/environment-and-energy/species-risk-ontario-list.  A recovery strategy is a provincial document that identifies the challenges facing species of plants and animals listed on the Ontario SARO list and provides recommendations for their recovery.

The MNRF recovery strategy for Goldenseal was published in May, 2016.  The document identified 24 naturally occurring populations with 79 colonies within the province of Ontario amounting to a total of 76,053 stems.  Two populations with 2 colonies were considered to be non-native in origin and, therefore, not protected under the Ontario Endangered Species Act and Ontario Regulation 242/08.  Two populations with 2 colonies were not assigned an Element Occurrence (EO) by the Natural Heritage Information Centre (NHIC) in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.  The "element" is defined as an element of biodiversity.  This is the basic taxonomic unit on which NHIC compiles information: species (including subspecies, varieties and some hybrids), ecological communities, and wildlife concentration areas.

At least 2 out of 20 natural populations are threatened by illegal harvesting for their medicinal properties.

Details about the recovery strategy were also posted on the EARTHQUEST (Canada) for the Environment website.

Dave Jolly, the author of the provincial recovery strategy, was contacted by the author of the federal recovery strategy with Environment Canada in August, 2016.  Mr. Jolly was notified that 12 NHIC EO populations with at least 12 colonies were unaccounted for in the provincial recovery strategy.  All unaccounted EOs were historical records with 1 extant - last visited on June 10, 2010.  One population was in Essex region, 6 in Halton region, 3 in Huron county, 1 in Middlesex county, and 1 in Niagara region.

Beginning in August, 2016 Mr. Jolly endeavoured to conduct site visits to all EOs missed in the MNRF provincial recovery strategy.  On August 22, 2016 he visited the Niagara region site which yielded no results.  Subsequently, on May 13, June 28, and August 19, 2017 he visited 3 out of 6 sites in Halton region.  Talia Plaskett and Mr. Jolly visited another site in Halton region on September 23, 2017.  None of these historical sites confirmed Goldenseal.  Lastly, on October 14, 2017 Talia and Mr. Jolly visited the Middlesex county population and located 65 stems (17 plants).  One of these had a 3-leaved plant (i.e., at least 6 years old).  This confirmed this site as extant.  This data was shared with Environment Canada and will later go to the MNRF.

Talia Plaskett surveying Goldenseal population in Middlesex county
Photo: Dave Jolly

The remaining 7 historical populations of Goldenseal are planned to be visited in 2018.  It is hoped that future recovery strategy writers will contact Mr. Jolly to receive the most up-to-date information on these populations.