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…
Do you have a collection of stunning photos showcasing Oregon’s native plants? Now that summer has passed and you’re spending more time indoors, why not take a moment to select your best shots and submit them for next year’s Native Plant Appreciation Month poster? Thanks to the passage of SB 547, April is now permanently…
Save the Date!2026 NPSO Annual Meeting May 29 to 31 Mark your calendar! 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:Friday, May 29: Participants will be able to choose from six self-guided field trip options and…
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…
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…
The following article by Nikki Hill is based on research that was partially supported by funds from the NPSO’s Field Research Grants program. Kudos to Nikki for making the extra effort to provide these insights on their project. Their work illustrates the kind of research that NPSO supports via your membership and donations. This type…
Plan now for activities in your chapter to help promote NPSO’s mission to support “the enjoyment, conservation, and study of Oregon’s native plants and habitats.” What could your chapter do? Your chapter might lead hikes or walks to view native plants in your area. The chapter could also organize workshops such as how to propagate,…
Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by adopting a rare plant species. Through our southern Oregon community (citizen) science project, we will teach volunteers how to monitor populations of rare plant species. The goal is for volunteers to be able to visit known populations of their adopted species and report on…