Native Plant Conservation Campaign News: Updated Oregon Flora Website makes it easier to explore Oregon plants
December 16, 2020
OregonFlora, an Oregon State University project to catalog the state’s plants in an online searchable database has been updated to add features and 
improve its ease of use. It allows users to explore over 4,700 plant species that grow in the wild in Oregon.
improve its ease of use. It allows users to explore over 4,700 plant species that grow in the wild in Oregon.OregonFlora has had a searchable website for 15 years, but it was previously geared more toward botanists and experts. Users can now search for either scientific or common names in the new intuitive search engine.
The site has tools for users to identify plants seen in Oregon, find the right native plant for a garden, find where specific native plants occur in the wild. The new site also includes more 46,000 color photos of Oregon native plants.
Potential uses for the new resource include:
- identify a plant seen on a hike,
- identify rare plants that require protection or invasive plants that require removal during land management
- learn where a plant species has been found in the state, and how climate change could be changing that distribution.
- choose plants for a garden or landscaping project
Oregon Flora has also created the Oregon wildflowers app, which can help identify more than 1,050 common wildflowers, shrubs, and vines found in Oregon and adjacent areas of Washington, Idaho and northern California.
Other states have developed similar resources for amateur and professional botanists and gardeners. For example CalFlora offers comprehensive information on California native and nonnative plants, along with thousands of photographs. CalScape offers gardeners growing and habitat information for nearly 8,000 native species in the state.
If your state or region has or is developing an online plant identification or gardening database, please let us know.
