Citizen’s Rare Plant Watch Updates Records for Doellingeria vialis at Mount Pisgah Arboretum

In mid-July 2025, when the summer sun was in full force and the Willamette Valley felt like the closest point to the sun, Citizen’s Rare Plant Watch braved the sunny heat and went hunting for rare plants. Our target was Doellingeria vialis (previously Eucephalus vialis), the wayside aster, and we joined botanists Ed Alverson and Bruce Newhouse at Mt. Pisgah Arboretum in Eugene to assess some of the northern-most populations of this rare plant.

Our group was six strong, and, thanks to Ed, we were able to drive up the access roads to park close to the known locations of the wayside aster. First, we had to arm ourselves with hiking boots, hats to shade the sun, and bug spray to combat the mosquitoes. We quickly realized that poison oak would be an added level of difficulty, growing directly next to and all around our target species. Botanists can be very brave, after all.

Group photo early in the day before the sun came out to play at Mt Pisgah with (left to right) Nora, Roxy, Kaitlin, Bruce, Ed, and Kammy. July 2025. Photo by Nora Dunkirk

We quickly spotted the unassuming inflorescences of wayside aster and gathered together to study the characteristics of this species. Small yellow flower heads with disc florets but lacking ray florets. Elliptic and alternate leaves with smooth edges. We discussed any lookalike species we may mistake with the wayside aster and answered any questions as a group.

Now for the action – data collection! Using an iPad with the Survey123 app downloaded, we took turns typing into the data collection fields while everyone else spread out to find the edges of the population. Once we could define the borders of the wayside aster population in that area, or the “element occurrence,” we recorded the GPS location and started counting plants. We took separate counts for flowering stalks and vegetative stems. Other relevant information included threats perceived at this location (e.g. evidence of herbivory, proximity to roads and trails, etc.), associated plants growing with the wayside aster, and a qualitative assessment of the condition of the population (does the population seem healthy?).

Citizen’s Rare Plant Watch volunteer Kaitlin was brave enough to count this cluster of wayside aster even when the day had turned hot and the poison oak wasn’t about to quit. July 2025. Photo by Nora Dunkirk.

Assessing plant populations takes a fair bit of wandering at a given location, and once that population had been assessed, we hiked less than a mile to the next population location in the park. Along the hike, we were rewarded with visits to other native plants like Actaea elata (tall bugbane), Achlys triphylla (vanilla leaf), Cirsium brevistylum (short-styled thistle), and Smithiastrum prenanthoides (California harebell).

We repeated this population assessment process for five total populations at Mt. Pisgah Arboretum that day and concluded once the sun was high overhead and the temperature read over 90 degrees Fahrenheit. We shared water and snacks and returned home happier for having succeeded in another day of plant conservation action!- Nora Dunkirk, Citizen’s Rare Plant Watch Program Manager
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NPSO member donations helped make this trip possible through sponsorship of the event from our Rare & Endangered Plant Conservation Fund! Citizen’s Rare Plant Watch is a citizen/community science program started by the NPSO in 2012 with the goal of promoting the direct involvement of volunteers in the conservation of rare plant species throughout Oregon. Since handing this program off to Rae Selling Berry Seed Bank & Plant Conservation Program at Portland State University in 2015, NPSO has continued to support this program through donations from the Rare & Endangered Plant Conservation Fund and direct involvement from NPSO members in promoting, teaching, and/or participating in Citizen’s Rare Plant Watch events. Please consider donating today!