A month ago, Scott Sundberg added another plant to
his growing list of Oregon flora – kudzu, an exotic vine usually
found in the South. With this discovery, the Oregon Flora Project
tallies 4,430 species, subspecies and varieties of plants
identified in the state. The project was started by Sundberg, a
professor at Oregon State University, in 1994 to create a
comprehensive list of Oregon plants. The most recent manual, from
1961, covers only part of Oregon, which boasts the fourth-largest
number of plants in the nation. Sundberg and his cadre of
volunteers expect to complete the Oregon Flora Project in several
years, when it will be available on-line and in print, with an
atlas and manual that includes hundreds of illustrations of all
flora in the state.
“This is a basic reference,”
Sundberg says. “It’s important to people interested in biology and
plant diversity, just as a dictionary is to a writer.” To volunteer
for the project or for more information, e-mail
sundbers@bcc.orst.edu or write to Sundberg at Oregon State
University, 2082 Cordley Hall, Corvallis, OR 97331.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Finding fresh flora.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
