UPDATED OKLAHOMA OZARK FLORA: A Checklist for the Vascular Flora of Ozark Plateau in Oklahoma based on the work of C.S. Wallis and records from the Oklahoma Vascular Plants Database

Charles Wallis’ 1959 dissertation “Vascular Plants of the Oklahoma Ozarks” is one of the most important florisitic works for state botanists and conservationists. Although a number of local and county floras for Oklahoma have been published, only Wallis and C. T. Eskew (1937) have completed regional studies. Wallis’s interest in the Ozark flora began with his 1953 masters thesis, “The Spermophyta of Cherokee County Oklahoma,” and subsequent studies in collaboration with U. T. Waterfall at Oklahoma A&M (Wallis 1957; Wallis and Waterfall 1953; Waterfall and Wallis 1962, 1963). This paper has two objectives, to update the taxonomy of Wallis’s Ozark list (WOL) and to provide a current Ozark checklist (OC) by inclusion of records that did not appear in WOL. Since several decades have passed since the WOL was completed, there have been many changes in the taxonomy of the plants listed. These updates will enhance the utility of the WOL for modern users and not detract from Wallis’s original work.