Oregon is home to approximately 145 species of ferns and fern allies. The American Fern Society has a good website to learn more about this group.

Check out the website of Northwest Lichenologists or download the Key to the Lichen Genera of the Pacific Northwest.

Learn about bryophytes at Bruce McCune's website Living with Mosses.

Yes, it's a different Kingdom, but worth a look. Try the plethora of information on fungi at the Virtual Library: Mycology.

In response to the need for an up-to-date flora of the state, the Oregon Flora Project was founded by the late Scott Sundberg and has been working to provide a comprehensive vascular plant resource since 1994. With support from sponsors and individual donations, the project uses images, interactive maps, and descriptive text to convey information on the flora of the state to a diverse body of users.

The Oregon Flora Project is a work in progress which relies on the efforts of staff, students, and volunteers to accomplish the following four goals:

  • A Flora of Oregon

  • The Oregon Plant Atlas

  • The Oregon Vascular Plant Checklist

  • Photo gallery

To access the current resources made available by this project, or to donate or volunteer to its cause, visit the Oregon Flora Project website.
The NPSO has several native plant research scholarships, awards, and field grants, including the Leighton Ho Memorial Award, the Jean Davis Memorial Scholarship, and the Augusta Rockafellar Memorial Scholarship. NPSO grants are meant to: 1.) stimulate basic field research into the biology and distribution of Oregon's native and naturalized flora and vegetation, particularly in the more remote areas of the state, and 2.) to promote native plant conservation through better understanding of Oregon's flora and vegetation and the factors affecting their survival.

For information on the application process and guidelines, contact Dan Luoma at 541-752-8860.

Several of the more recent recipients of NPSO research funds, and their associated proposals, include the following:
 
Leslie Gecy - Headwater riparian plant dynamics and importance to regional conservation strategies.
This project is meant to determine whether initial streambed plant establishment patterns, first observed 20 years ago, act as a legacy and thereby influence the current structure and composition of headwater riparian vegetation. Results will be used to examine how such floristic data may improve the conservation value of regional riparian management strategies.
 
April M. Randle - Pollination and reproductive biology of three Collinisia species native to SW Oregon.
Three Collinisia species will be used to assess the reproductive "costs and benefits" of different species living together in the face of potential hybridization. The project will look for evidence of competition or facilitation involving pollinators in populations of these species that are sympatric relative to allopatric populations.
 
Harold S.J. Zald - Predictive mapping of plant distributions and their underlying environmental determinants in a forest/tundra ecotone, Jefferson Park, Oregon.
Correlations between vegetation data and associated environmental conditions that are primary drivers of plant community structure will allow development of predictive models of vegetation changes that may occur in response to other dynamic processes such as climate change. The predictive capacity developed by this study will provide an important "early warning" component to monitoring the forest/tundra ecotone for sensitive species or communities that may be of management concern.