Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Phytoremediation of soils with heavy metal contamination is a very active area of current research. The efficiency of uptake of contaminants by a wide variety of plants is under investigation. There are announcements of bioengineered transgenic plants with genes that significantly increase the amount of contaminants the plants can accumulate in their tissues:

Martinez, M. et al. An engineered plant that accumulates higher levels of heavy metals than Thlaspi caerulescens, with yields of 100 times more biomass in mine soils. Chemosphere, 2006 June, v. 64, issue 3, p. 478-485.

Gisbert, C. et al. A plant genetically modified that accumulates Pb (lead) is especially promising for phytoremediation. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Apr 4, 2003. v. 303 (2), p. 440-445.

To be a good candidate for phytoremediation of heavy metal contaminants, a plant needs to be efficient in uptake of the metal, sequester the contaminant in tissues that are easily harvested, and produce a large biomass for harvesting. From our perspective at the Wildflower Center, it is also desirable for the plant, or plants, to be native plants. Neither Thlaspi caerulescens, mentioned in the title above, nor the transgenic plant, Nicotiana glauca, are plants native to North America. (The fact that one of these is a transgenic plant brings up another controversial issue which won't be addressed in this answer.) In Table 4.2. Selected Lead Accumulating Plants (Section 4. Phytoremediation of Lead) from Northwestern University's A Resouce Guide: The Phytoremediation of Lead in Urban, Residential Soils, three native plants are listed:

Short Ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia)
Seapink thrift (Armeria maritima)
Common Sunflower (Helianthus annuus)

Two of these, Short Ragweed and Common Sunflower, are native to Ohio, although I wouldn't necessarily recommend planting large fields of allergy-inducing ragweed in your neighborhood. Another article (Grist, Ray H. et al. Toxic metal uptake by sunflower, switchgrass, and Alyssum. Journal of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science. AUG 2005, v. 79, no. 1, pp. 29-34) offers another native plant, Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), as a possibility, but concludes that the sunflower is more versatile than switchgrass or Alyssum (non-native).

Table 4.2. Selected Lead Accumulating Plants lists several cultivated garden plants—corn (Zea mays), wheat (Triticum aestivum), rutabaga, turnip (Brassica napus), ornamental kale and cabbage (Brassica oleracea), Indian mustard (Brassica juncea)—that, although not native, are not considered to be invasives. However, they do warrant a caution—plants that are efficient in accumulating lead, or other heavy metals, from the soil should not be used as food plants if they are grown in an area that has soils with a high level of lead contamination.