Oregon Vascular Plant Checklist
The Oregon Vascular Plant Checklist, which is currently under development, will provide a framework of scientific names for Oregon’s vascular plants; hence it will serve as the foundation of the entire Oregon Flora Project. The overall goal of the Checklist is to identify every vascular plant growing in Oregon that is native, introduced, or has become established in a natural setting. A second goal is to associate each plant with its correct and defining scientific name, and to account for all other names (synonyms) that are or have been associated with that plant.
We anticipate the release of a working version of the Oregon Vascular Plant Checklist in 2010.
Information the Checklist provides
The Checklist presents a delimitation of each species, subspecies, and variety of vascular plant. Synonyms from standard references (listed here) and scientific literature are provided. Common names and a plant’s status as native or non-native are also given.The Checklist will serve as a valuable cross-reference to the texts that include plants found in Oregon, often under differing scientific names.
Development of the Checklist
The research and decision-making for each Checklist treatment is provided by a taxonomist familiar with the Oregon taxa of a given genus. In the limited instances where a genus has not yet been treated by a contributing author, the taxonomy proposed in the Flora of North America is presented as a provisional treatment. The information is compiled into a Microsoft Access database. For more about the nature of our data click here.
The people involved
The participants in the Checklist Project include a group of eight Project Leaders and an Advisory Board composed of ten professional and amateur botanists from throughout the state. Many of these individuals have contributed taxonomic treatments for some of the 972 genera of Oregon plants. Invited contributors, student assistants, and volunteers are also key members of the Project. The Checklist Project is sponsored by the Oregon State University Herbarium in Corvallis and has received grant support from the Native Plant Society of Oregon and donations from individuals.
Checklist links
Oregon Vascular Plant Checklist: Asteraceae (Online version prepared April 2001; modified from the May 2000 second printing)Oregon Vascular Plant Checklist Contributors Guide
Draft Checklist Treatments for Review (reviewers only)