Flora of Oregon
"A new Flora of Oregon, with its accompanying plant Atlas, will encourage further plant exploration and will heighten public appreciation for the state's heritage of botanical diversity." - Dr. Kenton Chambers, Emeritus Professor and OSU Herbarium Director
A flora is the primary reference manual for determining the scientific names of plants. The Flora of Oregon will be a one-volume manual of the vascular plants of Oregon, and will include identification keys, illustrations, and species descriptions. The new flora will have line drawings for each species. Text will provide detailed descriptions, and indicate whether a plant is native and if it is a species of conservation concern. It will be published in book form and online.
As the capstone of the Oregon Flora Project, production of the Flora of Oregon is building upon the research and work accomplished in the other components of the Project. With adequate funding, we anticipate completion of the book edition of the Flora of Oregon can occur in three to four years.
Flora of Oregon excerpts
As discrete segments of the Flora are completed, they will be posted here as downloadable files.
Gymnosperms
Dichotomous key to the genera of grasses
Digital Field Guide
Oregon Flora Project data will be presented electronically via the Digital Field Guide. Through a collaborative National Science Foundation grant with the Northwest Alliance for Computational Science and Engineering (NACSE), software was developed to allow the user to select information from any facet of the Oregon Flora Project to the degree of detail desired, and download this information to a personal computer or handheld device. This flexibility makes the Project’s data accessible in a context that is meaningful to the professional and the amateur plant enthusiast alike.The Digital Field Guide is in the beta testing stage, and we continue to input data and improve functionality of the software.
Why Oregon needs a new flora
The Flora of Oregon will be important for professional botanists and casual plant enthusiasts alike. Accurate and up-to-date knowledge about the plants of Oregon is critical for natural resource managers, policy makers, and academic researchers. However, there is no modern, comprehensive reference for the plants of Oregon! Over four decades of biosystematic research and plant exploration have rendered the most recent flora (Morton Peck’s Manual of the Higher Plants of Oregon, 1961) out of date. Newly described species, those whose ranges have extended into Oregon, and weedy species will be collectively presented for the first time. Having one current reference that covers the entire state will aid in our understanding and appreciation of Oregon’s plant diversity.
The people involved
The Oregon Flora Project is housed in the Department of Botany & Plant Pathology of Oregon State University, and is coordinated by Dr. Linda Hardison. It is guided by 27 volunteer scientists, including OSU Herbarium Director Dr. Aaron Liston and Professor Emeritus Kenton Chambers. A close relationship with the OSU Herbarium is nurtured through mutually beneficial research and activities. The taxonomic treatments prepared for the Checklist will serve as the launching point for the new Flora of Oregon; additional taxonomists will also be requested to contribute to the flora.