Please note some of these links are affiliate links through Bookshop, which supports local bookstores. Hundreds of independent bookstores list their wares, and you can purchase them in one spot!
Although they do not have all the titles listed here,
you can view what they do have from my recommended reading list here: Bookshop: Cascadian Botany's Recommended Reading List
Check out our local Portland favorite large bookstore: Powell's Books.
They ship everywhere and have tons of great new and used options!
Please click on the icon above to visit them, also an affiliate link.
PLANT IDENTIFICATION BOOKS
Pojar and MacKinnon. 2004. Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast.
Partners Publishing.
The must-have user-friendly guidebook west of the Cascades! https://bookshop.org/a/2527/9781772130089
Stephen C. Meyers, Thea Jaster, Katie E. Mitchell, and Linda K. Hardison, eds. 2015. Flora of Oregon. Volume 1: Pteridophytes, Gymnosperms, and Monocots.
Oregon Flora Project, Oregon State University. https://shop.brit.org/Flora-of-Oregon-2_2
Stephen C. Meyers, Thea Jaster, Katie E. Mitchell, Tanya Harvey, and Linda K. Hardison, eds. 2020. Flora of Oregon. Volume 2: Dicots A-F.
OregonFlora. https://shop.brit.org/Flora-of-Oregon-2
Oregon Flora: we are eagerly awaiting Volume 3!
: Plant Identification Sites :
Native Plant and Weed ID
OREGON
GENERAL NATIVE PLANT INFO
Oregon Flora has sections on how to identify plants, choosing native plants for projects, and species range maps.
The Oregon Flora Project have produced the first two volumes entitled Flora of Oregon, as well as an Oregon Wildflowers app. https://oregonflora.org
The Native Plant Society of Oregon (NPSO) https://www.npsoregon.org
NPSO has many local chapters which you can follow or join, and their outings, lectures, and Native Plant Month activities are also very helpful.
You can also follow their Facebook pages.
The Portland Plant List (PPL) (June 2016, Bureau of Planning and Sustainability) https://www.portland.gov/bps/environ-planning/portland-plant-list
Includes a list each of native plants, nuisance plants, and plants required to be eradicated, for a total of 1553 taxa of native or naturalized vascular plants not intentionally cultivated by humans. This is based on Flora of the Pacific Northwest by Hitchcock and Cronquist (1973), and research about which plants were here before colonization. Many people in Portland follow this species list religiously, and some habitat certification programs require strict conformity to it for specific amounts of area in your yard. However, remember climate change will shift our plant communities from what has historically existed here (and there is a whole other conversation to be had about assisted migration of more Southern species and planning for more drought-tolerant conditions and pathogens and insect pests such as the emerald ash borer), and the PPL list changes from time to time as the data upon which it is based evolves.
Christy, J. A., A. Kimpo, V. Marttala, P. K. Gaddis, and N. L. Christy. 2009. Urbanizing Flora of Portland, Oregon, 1806-2008.
Native Plant Society of Oregon Occasional Paper 3: 1-319. https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/downloads/j098zg09s
Oregon Department of Agriculture's Oregon Noxious Weed Profiles https://www.oregon.gov/oda/programs/weeds/oregonnoxiousweeds/pages/aboutoregonweeds.aspx
"The noxious weed policy and classification system includes Oregon's official noxious weed priority list as designated by the Oregon State Weed Board (OSWB). Oregon Department of Agriculture has compiled profiles of the weeds listed by OSWB. Profiles include information about the weed, images, and locations in Oregon."
Oregon Department of Agriculture. 2011. Noxious Weed Control.
Salem, OR: Plant Division, Oregon Department of Agriculture. http://www.oregon.gov/ODA/PLANT/WEEDS
Oregon State University Extension Service. 2011. Pacific Northwest Weed Management Handbook.
Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University Extension Service. http://pnwhandbooks.org/weed
City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services (BES): Invasive Plants
General start page which includes the required eradication list, noxious weed profiles, and much more https://www.portlandoregon.gov/bes/55084
Pacific Northwest Wildflowers (by author Mark Turner of Turner Photographics).
While this is a commercial site ostensibly for selling photographs, it's almost 17,000 images form a great visual database: https://www.pnwflowers.com
Roberta Parish, Ray Coupe, and Dennis Lloyd. 2018. Plants of Inland Northwest and Southern Interior British Columbia.
Publishing Partners. https://bookshop.org/a/2527/9781772130836
CALIFORNIA
CalFlora shows what grows where, a native planting guide, and allows searches for type of plant and for uploading and viewing observations. They also have their own app. https://www.calflora.org
Bruce G. Baldwin, Douglas Goldman, David J Keil, Robert Patterson, Thomas J. Rosatti, and Dieter Wilken (Editors). 2012. The Jepson Manual: Vascular Plants of California Second Edition
University of California Press.
The 1,600-page tome all the California botanists use (and then some), which contains dichotomous keys. https://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520253124 https://bookshop.org/a/2527/9780520253124
OTHER IDENTIFICATION SERVICES
If an ingestion or dermal reaction has occurred in a human or animal, and an identity is needed for Poison Control or emergency services, post clear photos and unabbreviated location to the volunteer experts at: Poisons help; Emergency Identifications for Mushrooms and Plants (Facebook page)
For a non-emergency single plant identification, it is best to post a photo to one of the online identification forums. You must spell out your location without abbreviations, such as: Portland, Oregon, USA.
The best, no-nonsense one is: Plant Identification (Facebook page)
If you want to discuss anything about it other than its identification, one of the better groups which allows that is: Plant Identification and Discussion (Facebook page)
These Portland maps are excellent reference sources which reveal the identity of any street tree in parking/median strips, and most park trees! You can even search for specific types of trees if you want to see what they look like in-situ. This is also useful for finding trees blooming, for example cherry trees in spring or trees with certain resplendent autumn colors, or to ask the residents if you are looking to harvest fruit, leaves, or seeds.
Portland Street Tree inventory map
Portland Park Tree inventory map
Smartphone apps are fairly good for common plants in bloom, but can produce misleading results and are still unreliable. The recognition technology is rapidly developing, and the sheer volume of data sets being generated is astounding. I predict that they will be much more reliable in a few years. However, there will always be a need for trained botanists and naturalists to verify these results. The following have the best reputations as being the most accurate or locally relevant.
iNaturalist
iNaturalist is essentially a giant citizen science project with data available for further botanical research. Upload your photos and the recognition algorithm will make suggested identifications, and other users, often experts and authors on specific plant groups, will also check their identification. It works best with wild (uncultivated) species. Some people like to use it for nature journaling, BioBlitz, and class activities. There is also an extensive desktop site which has greater functionality.
While you are thinking about iNat, consider participating in some of their local citizen science projects, like this one on their desktop site about Western red cedar dieback. Upload your observations for scientists to better understand and map this emerging issue from thousands of user-collected data points. https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/western-redcedar-dieback-map
Seek
A separate photo ID app but also run by iNaturalist using the same recognition algorithms which has received good reviews for accuracy.
Oregon Wildflowers
While this is unfortunately not a free app, it has been developed and curated by the botanists of the Oregon Flora Project. It allows searches by location, type of plant, flower and leaf characteristics, size, and habitat. 1289 species of wildflowers, shrubs, and vines.
Oregon Wildflower Search
This free app allows you to search by location and plant characteristic.
4018 species, of which 2461 are wildflowers.
This same developer has separate apps for Washington (below), Mount Rainier and Olympic National Parks, as well as for British Columbia.
Washington Wildflowers
Also unfortunately not a free app, it has been developed and curated by the botanists of the University of Washington Herbarium at the Burke Museum in Seattle. It allows searches by location, type of plant, flower and leaf characteristics, size, and habitat. 1028 species of wildflowers, shrubs, and vines.
Washington Wildflower Search
This free app allows you to search by location and plant characteristic.
3485 species, of which 1905 are wildflowers.
: Botanical Education :
LEARNING BOTANY
Henk Beentje (Author) and Juliet Williamson (Illustrator). 2016. The Kew Plant Glossary: An Illustrated Dictionary of Plant Terms - Second Edition.
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. https://bookshop.org/a/2527/9781842466049
Do not be fooled by this title! This is a serious and very detailed adult plant anatomy coloring book.
Paul Young. 1982. Botany Coloring Book.
Collins Reference. https://bookshop.org/a/2527/9780064603027
Backyard Habitat Certification Program https://backyardhabitats.org/
An excellent program if you want to dive deeper!
Their program costs are subsidized by various community partnerships, and they rely on a lot of volunteer labor. They also have (sometimes virtual) open garden tours. They tend to have a backlog / long waitlist.
Arthur R. Kruckeberg and Linda Chalker-Scott. 2019. Gardening with Native Plants of the Pacific Northwest.
University of Washington Press. https://bookshop.org/a/2527/9780295744155
Portland Parks & Recreation's Urban Forestry
They periodically offer free yard trees for Portlanders (only a few giant native species are offered, but wonderful if you have room!): https://www.portland.gov/trees/tree-planting/free-trees
Directories, native plant nursery finder, regional plant lists, community service providers, how-to tutorials https://www.plantnative.org
WHERE to BUY NATIVE PLANTS:
COMMERCIAL SITES
Bosky Dell! (West Linn, OR)
A stroll through these wonderfully landscaped grounds is pure delight. http://www.boskydellnatives.com/
Sauvie Island Natives
They even have a short nature walk adjacent to them which you can peruse when they are writing up your receipt. Not to mention a pond with Wolffia! https://sauvienatives.com/
Portland Fruit Tree Project
Harvesting, pruning and tree care workshops, coaching sessions https://www.portlandfruit.org
Sound Native Plants
A nursery based out of Olympia, but also has field crews in Vancouver and Portland who do consulting and installations https://soundnativeplants.com
Mudbone Grown
"We are farmers and community health workers. We can help you build your personal garden, teach gardening classes or do landscaping.
Mudbone Grown believes in creating kinship, cultural pride and self-sufficiency through the cultivation of land ownership and land use.
We are in the business of growing food, community health, business, and community culture around delivery of the triple bottom line to historically absent or barriered communities." https://www.mudbonegrown.com
mudbonegrown@gmail.com
Come Thru Market
May through October incubator market centering Black and Indigenous Farmers and Makers; their "Farmer Training Program supports beginning farmers of color in Portland in building their farmers market readiness and success. This program is specifically designed for people of color, including immigrants and refugees." https://www.comethrupdx.org
TALON
"The TALON Program is Audubon Society of Portland's paid training and employment program for young adults age 16-20 that fosters careers in conservation, environmental education and trails.
Focused on recruiting young people of color and of diverse backgrounds from Portland, Gresham, and Clackamas.
Saturday Trainings from April-June focused on Leadership, Environmental Education and Environmental Justice.
Summer Job (after completion of training program)." https://www.mesdoutdoorschool.org/jobs-internships-programs/audubon-society-of-portland-talon-program7466924
Northwest Youth Corps
"An education-based, work experience modeled after the historic Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930's" with internships in Oregon, Washington, Northern California, and Idaho. https://www.nwyouthcorps.org/m/OurPrograms/ConservationInterns
The Forest Park Conservancy (FPC) runs the Green Jobs Training and Internship Program
"(F)or young adults (18-24 years old) who are current or past participants of the Green Workforce Academy Collective; and Tualatin River Keepers' Green Jobs Training Program." https://forestparkconservancy.org/green-jobs-training-and-internship-program/
Verde
"Verde serves communities by building environmental wealth through Social Enterprise, Outreach and Advocacy." https://www.verdenw.org/
M. Kat Anderson. 2013. Tending the Wild: Native American Knowledge and the Management of California's Natural Resources.
University of California Press. https://bookshop.org/a/2527/9780520280434
Nancy Turner has written and contributed to many amazing publications about the ethnobotany of peoples of the Pacific Northwest in her long research career in close association with Native people of the Pacific Northwest, with a focus on British Columbia. Here are just a few examples:
Harriet V. Kuhnlein and Nancy J. Turner. 1991. Traditional Plant Foods of Canadian Indigenous Peoples: Nutrition, Botany and Use.
Gordon And Breach Publishers. https://www.fao.org/3/ai215e/ai215e.pdf
Douglas E. Deur and Nancy J. Turner (Editors). 2005. Keeping It Living: Traditions of Plant Use and Cultivation on the Northwest Coast of North America.
University of Washington Press. https://bookshop.org/a/2527/9780295985657
Nancy J. Turner (Editor). 2020. Plants, People, and Places, 96: The Roles of Ethnobotany and Ethnoecology in Indigenous Peoples' Land Rights in Canada and Beyond.
McGill-Queen's University Press. https://bookshop.org/a/2527/9780228001836
FORAGING BOOKS
Douglas Deur. 2014. Pacific Northwest Foraging: 120 Wild and Flavorful Edibles from Alaska Blueberries to Wild Hazelnuts.
Timber Press (OR). https://bookshop.org/a/2527/9781604693522
Scott Kloos. 2017. Pacific Northwest Medicinal Plants: Identify, Harvest, and Use 120 Wild Herbs for Health and Wellness.
Timber Press (OR). https://bookshop.org/a/2527/9781604696578
In October, Oxbow Regional Park in Gresham hosts Salmon Homecoming, a "two-day event [which] includes: Indigenous storytelling, tea preparation, drumming, a Salmon Bake, and native plant walks introducing people to Indigenous perspectives on plants, animals, and water."
https://www.oregonmetro.gov/events/salmon-homecoming/2019-10-19
Vancouver Land Bridge (WA), including an Ethnobotanical Walkway, part of the Confluence Project
"Connecting people to the history, living cultures, and ecology of the Columbia River system through Indigenous voices." https://www.confluenceproject.org/river-site/vancouver-land-bridge/
Northwest Hiker (great site for hike descriptions in the Northwest)
Here are some revered natural areas with featured plants which have huge cultural significance as First Nations food plants, which are short walks or hikes without huge elevation gains near the Portland area, where other native plants with ethnobotanical and ecological significance can readily be found, and are especially resplendent in Springtime:
Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge in Washington
They host a free Bird Festival in October that usually features an ethnobotany hike, canoe paddling, a salmon bake, birdwatching, and interpretation about cultural heritage in the Cathlapotle Chinookan plank house near the site of historic settlements wiped out by illness brought by colonization. The trail behind the plankhouse can lead you past giant Oregon white oaks to wetlands which feature an important first food, Wapato (broad-leaf arrowhead, Sagittaria latifolia). Wapato populations have been greatly reduced by watershed and land use changes, and lack of human harvesting, usually done by women. Without the churning brought by their presence in the water, wapato has declined dramatically.
https://ridgefieldfriends.org/birdfest-bluegrass/
An article published by the Confluence Project about wapato: https://www.confluenceproject.org/library-post/important-foods-wapato/
Wild Diversity
"Wild Diversity helps to create a personal connection to the outdoors for Black, Indigenous, all People of Color (BIPOC) & the LGBTQ+ communities, through outdoor adventures and education.
Wild Diversity is a nonprofit organization that aims to help create a personal connection to the outdoors for Black, Indigenous, all People of Color (BIPOC) & the LGBTQ2S+ communities, through outdoor adventures and education."
https://wilddiversity.com
Outdoor Asian (nationwide with chapters in OR, WA, CO, VA, VT, and L.A.)
"The mission of Outdoor Asian is to build a diverse and inclusive community of Asian & Pacific Islanders in the outdoors."
https://www.facebook.com/OutdoorAsian/ http://www.outdoorasian.com
Soul River / Love is King
Soul River connects inner city youth to veterans for access to the outdoors and environmental justice.
"We believe that the freedom to roam in nature is a basic human right.
Love is king squashes the fear in the outdoors and provides equitable access and resolute safety to ensure an enriching and exhilarating experience in nature.
It's our moral obligation to take action to ensure that people of color are guaranteed freedom to roam in nature with the assurance of a welcoming and safe experience in the outdoors: recreating, hunting, fishing and in backcountry wilderness, public lands and urban parks.
...our humanitarian obligation through compassion, responsibility, inclusion and equal opportunity [is] to ensure that People of Color have guaranteed access and a safe experiences in the outdoors."
https://soulriverinc.org https://loveisking.org
Noah Siegel and Christian Schwarz. 2016. Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast: A Comprehensive Guide to the Fungi of Coastal Northern California.
Ten Speed Press. https://bookshop.org/a/2527/9781607748175
This is the pocket field guide version of Mushrooms Demystified, massively abridged - but not short on comedic interludes:
David Arora. 1991. All That the Rain Promises and More: A Hip Pocket Guide to Western Mushrooms.
Ten Speed Press. https://bookshop.org/a/2527/9780898153880
What can I say? I like lichens! They are not plants, but a community of organisms living and reproducing in such close association with each other that they are named as one species. Once thought to be a fungus (the mycobiont) which provides more surface area to gather moisture and nutrients, and a photosynthesizing cyanobacteria or algal partner (the photobiont) fixing atmospheric carbon into carbohydrates, it is now know that there is usually at least a third partner in the form of a yeast, too. It's complicated!
Bruce McCun. 2009. Macrolichens of the Pacific Northwest, Second Edition. Oregon State University Press. https://bookshop.org/a/2527/9780870715655
RARE SPECIES and MYCOHETEROTROPHS
Threatened, Endangered, and Proposed Species, rare species, imperiled, vulnerable, and sensitive taxa (Region 6 Forest Service, Oregon/Washington BLM, Federal) https://www.fs.fed.us/r6/sfpnw/issssp/agency-policy/
An amazing source which I highly recommend about Pacific NW mycoheterotrophic plants and the fungi they are in symbiotic relationships with:
Wilbur L. Bluhm. 2007.
The Ericaceae of the Pacific Northwest, Part V.
Journal American Rhododendron Society, Volume 61, Number 2. Salem, Oregon. https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JARS/v61n2/v61n2-bluhm.htm
