Portland Plant List

Updated: September 30, 2011

Portland Plant List (.pdf)

The Portland Plant list provides a user-friendly guide to the native plants and nuisance plant species found in Portland and the metropolitan region. The document describes the ecological and social benefits provided by plants on the Native Plants Lists, as well as the impacts and risks associated with the spread of invasive plants on the Nuisance Plants List.

Highlights of the Portland Plant List

• The Native Plant Lists provide information about associated habitats, flowering seasons, and whether some of these plants pose additional wildfire risk. Only plants from the Native Plant List may be planted in Environmental Overlay Zones and Pleasant Valley Natural Resource Overlay Zone resource areas. Native plants may be required in the Greenway Overlay Zones as well, and are encouraged throughout the city.

• The Nuisance Plant List includes ranks for each species that indicate how invasive or widespread the plant is in Portland. Plants on the Nuisance Plant List may not be included in any City-required landscaped areas or mitigation sites.

• The Portland Plant List also includes a Required Eradication List of plants that must be removed. These plants are not commonly found in Portland at this time, and must be eradicated if discovered to keep them from spreading.

The Portland Plant List was first establish in 1991. Recent updates occurred July 2010 as part of the Invasive Plant Policy Review and Regulatory Improvement Project, led by the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability. This project was funded as part of the City’s Grey to Green Initiative to help implement City’s Invasive Plant Management Strategy. Most recently, the document was updated in 2011 to broaden the Native Plants List and to respond to direction provided by the adopted Airport Futures Project and Citywide Tree Project.

Highlights of the September 2011 Update

• Added four native plant species to the Native Plant List: Elymus trachycaulus (bluebunch wheatgrass); Poa secunda (pine bluegrass); Deschampsia danthonoides (ticklegrass); and Carex unilateralis (one-sided sedge)

• Added an area-specific plant list for thePortlandInternationalAirportas a result of the adopted Airport Futures Project.

• Incorporated information about native tree growth rates in accordance with the adopted Citywide Tree Project.

• Inclusion of a plant index for both Native and Nuisance Species Plants. 

Download the Portland Plant List