Plant Identification

Identification of plants in Oregon and northern California is a slightly frustrating business as Peck’s (1961) A Manual of the Higher Plants in Oregon is now out-of-date both in terms of its taxonomy and its nomenclature. Hitchcock and Cronquist’s (1990) up-to-date Flora of the Pacific Northwest does not cover all of the area we visited. The Jepson Manual (Hickman 1993) of the higher plants of California is massive (1400 pages) as it covers the flora of the whole of California. It is relatively difficult to use for some genera (e.g. Eriogonum, Mimulus) because of the huge number of species in the keys for particular genera, when, in reality, there may be only a few relevant species in the area of northern California we visited. The Jepson Manual includes many, but not all, species known from Oregon. It is, however, the most up-to-date and critical taxonomic treatment available for some of the areas we visited. Fortunately there are some useful and excellent ‘local’ floras or check-lists for some of the areas we visited, for example Steens Mountain (Mansfield 2000), Cone Peak (Ross and Chambers 1988), Three Sisters region (Ireland 1968), Crater Lake (Zika 2003), parts of northern California (Ferlatte 1974), and Fairview Peak (Baker 1951). In addition Loren Russell, Tanja Harvey, Dave and Jan Dobak, John Grimshaw, Jim Duncan, and Phyllis Gustafson kindly provided details and species lists for particular localities. For particularly complex genera we consulted Barneby (1989; Astragalus, Lupinus), Cronquist et al. (1984; Castilleja, Penstemon), Strickler (1997; Penstemon), Flora of North America (1997; Anemone, Ranunculus), and the Oregon Flora website (www.oregonflora.org; Arenaria, Erigeron, Dodecatheon, Pyrola, Delphinium, Gayophytum, Arctostaphylos, Calyptridium).

The taxonomy and nomenclature we have followed in the Species List that can be downloaded here follows, as far as possible, The Jepson Manual, Mansfield (2000), and the Oregon Flora website.

Oregon and Northern California

The mountain areas of Oregon can be divided into six major vegetation—landform—climate units (Wuerthner 1987), namely the Blue Mountains and the Wallowa Mountains of the north-east, the Coast Range of the extreme west, the Western or Old Cascade Range running from Mount Hood to Prospect, the High or New Cascades running from Barlow Pass to Mount Shasta and Lassen Peak in northern California, the Basin and Range area of south-east Oregon, and the Siskiyou Mountains west of Ashland extending to Mount Eddy, Castle Lake, and Stewart Springs in northern California. We visited the Western Cascades (Fairview Peak and Bohemia Mountain, Cone Peak and Iron Mountain, Tokatee Falls), the High Cascades (Crater Lake, Newberry Volcanics, Three Fingered Jack, and Three Sisters), the Basin and Range (Steens Mountain), and the Siskiyou Mountains (Mount Ashland, Castle Lake, Stewart Springs, Mount Eddy).

Excellent and very readable accounts of the fascinating geological history and landscape development are provided by Harris (1988) and Bishop (2003). Wuerthner (1987) gives good general accounts of each of the Oregon mountain ranges including their geology, land-use, ecology, and management. The Atlas of Oregon (Loy 2001) is the definitive reference work for all aspects of Oregon’s human geography, economy, land-use, physical geography, climate, and vegetation. Detailed accounts of the landscapes, land-use, and history of western Oregon and eastern Oregon are given by McPhee (1987) and St. John (1988), respectively. Excellent accounts of the various hikes we made are given by Sullivan (1999, 2002a, 2002b).

Species List

This is the list of all the plants seen and recorded. All plants are listed by locality visited. The plants are grouped as Pteridophytes, Gymnosperms, Monocotyledons, and Dicotyledon plant families. Visits to the Newberry Volcanics (Dome, Paulina Peak, Lava Cone, and roadsides) have been grouped together. The dates in July 2004 of the visits are given for each column. Some short diagnostic notes about each species are also given.

The list can be downloaded as a PDF file.

Photographs

All photographs are the copyright of John and Hilary Birks. They were taken using Kodachrome 200 film.

Six of the nineteen Penstemon species seen

Six species of Calochortus seen

Western Cascades

The areas visited in the Western Cascades were:

Fairview Peak (5933’) and Bohemia Mountain (5987’) with stops in forest openings at 5000’.

Plants of particular note included Rhododendron macrophyllum, Penstemon cardwellii, P. rupicola, Lilium washingtonianum, Dicentra formosa, Gilia capitata, Linanthastrum nuttallii, Ipomopsis aggregata, Calochortus subalpinus, Xerophyllum tenax, Saxifraga bronchialis ssp. vespertina, Silene campanulatus, and Lilium columbianium (roadside stop at 1520’). A total of 151 species was noted.

Cone Peak and Iron Mountain (4130'-5100'). 2 July 2004

Besides the wonderful woodland flora with Anemone deltoidea, Cornus canadensis, Asarum caudatum, Clintonia uniflora, Smilacina racemosa, S. stellata, and Oplopanax horridum, the highlight was the fantastic flower-rich and colourful dry grasslands above the forest, with masses of Castilleja hispida, C. miniata, Calochortus subalpinus, Delphinium menziesii, Sedum oregoneum, S. divergens, Eriogonum compositum, E. umbellatum, and Allium crenulatum. A total of 153 species was recorded.

Tokatee Falls 2350’ (90 feet high). 7 July 2004.

This provided us with a glimpse of Western Cascades ‘old-growth’ forest of Abies lasiocarpa, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Thuja plicata, T. mertensiana, and T. heterophylla, with a sparse but interesting field-layer of Monotropa uniflora, Allotropa virgata, and Pterospora andromedea (all saprophytic or parasitic), and the massive Petasites frigidus var. palmatus and Polystichum munitum. Thirty four species were recorded.