White meconella (Oregon fairy poppy) (Meconella oregana), a contender for the smallest member of the poppy family (Papaveraceae), was added to Oregon’s list of threatened and endangered plants in 2023. While the diminutive annual has a large range, spanning from British Columbia down to California, the species is restricted to specific habitats: open grassy areas…
Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of three articles describing the seed collection from at risk plant species accomplished by Oregon Department of Agriculture’s Native Plant Conservation Program and their partners in 2025. This first article gives a summary of the effort; the subsequent articles will detail survey efforts for two priority…
NPSO 2026 Annual Meeting May 29-31 Tolmie’s cat’s ear (Calochortus tolmiei) at Kingston Prairie, one of the 2026 Annual Meeting destinations. Photo credit: NPSO Willamette Valley Chapter. The Willamette Valley Chapter is delighted to host the next NPSO statewide Annual Meeting May 29-31, 2026, at the Willamette Heritage Center in Salem, Oregon. Schedule Overview: Registration…
On December 9, 2025, the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) hosted their first ever Plant Conservation Symposium online. The theme of the symposium was “Plant Conservation in an Era of Rapid Change” and included seventeen (17) presentations across a variety of topics including climate resilience, pollinators, taxonomy, molecular phylogenetics, species conservation, and plant materials. In depth plenary presentations covered seed dormancy…
Reflecting on the season’s explorations, we’re reminded of why NPSO holds such meaning for so many of us. From the stately Steen’s mountain thistle to the brilliant golden bog-asphodel, Oregon’s native plants sustain wildlife, weave ecosystems, and deepen our sense of place. In the same way, NPSO is sustained by the participation, curiosity, and generosity…
Kim Brown, NPSO State Secretary and Portland Chapter member, won the Botanical Society of America’s Advocacy and Service Grant for her proposal on creating accessible and educational native plant gardens. Every year Kim organizes a community “bike-planting” event in Portland called the Beecycle. Beecycle seeks to boost native plant knowledge amongst the community and increase people-plant…
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…
Peacock larkspur (Delphinium pavonaceum). Photo by Judi Sanders. Thank you to all the individuals and organizations who helped make it happen- Senate Bill 547 has officially passed both the Oregon Senate and House and has been signed into law by Governor Tina Kotek, designating April as Oregon’s Native Plant Appreciation Month! This milestone is the result of…
IntroductionThe relationship between herbivorous insects and their respective foodplants ranges from a species acting as a generalist versus a species acting as a specialist (Miller and Hammond 2003, 2007, Miller et al. 2020). The generalist life strategy is less common than the specialist life strategy. A generalist herbivore can successfully develop on any one of…
Last spring, Spruce Ridge Resources, a Canadian-based mineral exploration company, staked 115 mining claims totaling 2,376 acres on the west side of Eight Dollar Mountain in Josephine County, Oregon. Spruce Ridge, who recently changed its company name to Homeland Mining, claims that Eight Dollar Mountain contains nickel laterite deposits. These mining claims are on the…
Help NPSO Sponsor Spalding’s Catchfly! The Rare and Endangered Committee has proposed contributing funds to complete sponsorship of the rare Spalding’s catchfly (Silene spaldingii) from the Rare and Endangered Fund to the Center For Plant Conservation (CPC) as part of their 40th Anniversary Campaign. Our partners at the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s Plant Conservation Program have already partially sponsored this…
The following article by Rachel R. Renne, Doctoral Candidate at the Yale School of the Environment, is based on research that was partially supported by funds from the NPSO’s field research grants program. Special thanks to Rachel for taking the extra effort to provide this perspective that illustrates the kinds of research that our society supports…