This online field guide is an adaptation of our Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Washington (2011); a cooperative venture between the Washington State Department of Natural Resources' Natural Heritage Program (WNHP), the Spokane District of the U.S.D.I. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Washington Native Plant Society, the University of Washington Herbarium at Burke Museum, and the University of Washington Press.

 

The intent of this online guide is to aid amateur and professional botanists in the identification of our state's rare plant species. The initial online version consisted of links to individual species treatments in the form of PDFs, which were a challenge to update. Our newest version is based on a platform created by the Montana Natural Heritage Program, which is easily edited and allows us to present up-to-date information. Produced with funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the new guide includes treatments for 371 vascular plants, 6 bryophytes, and 1 lichen.

 

Mobile applications: An Android version, based on the 2011 guide, is available. Please note that the mobile app has not been updated since its release in 2014. The biological information presented is still pertinent, but nomenclature, global/state ranks, and federal ESA/state conservation statuses may have changed. Additionally, 20 species present in the mobile app have since been removed from our Vascular Species of Conservation Concern (SOCC) list. The approximately 70 species added to the SOCC list since 2011 are not found in the app.

 

 

 

The easiest way to find your species of interest is to use the Search function, or select the 'See Plant List Sorted by Scientific Name' link and scroll through. You can also navigate using the scientific hierarchy (e.g. Plantae → Anthophyta → Dicotyledoneae → Scrophulariales → Scrophulariaceae → Penstemon barrettiae).

 

⇒ To open the guide in a full page, click here (link goes to a webpage that is off of the WA DNR website).

 

NOTICE: The iFrame below does not work with Internet Explorer (IE). Software patches for IE are no longer being processed due to the fact that IE is set to be retired in less than a year (June 15, 2022).

 

 

 

The citation for the guide and an example of an individual species citation are found below. Please note that in order to retrieve web addresses for individual species, you must view the field guide in the full page format, rather than the iFrame above.