This lifeform is found east of the Continental Divide in North America. This lifeform is found in Central America. The red color will help identify this lifeform. This lifeform is found in swamps or very moist ground. This lifeform is rare.

Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) is found near water from east Canada to Minnesota and further south. The entire leaves are oblong to lanceolate and up to six inches long. The showy red flowers of this plant are very spectacular. Large examples can be over four feet tall. Prairie restoration projects in North America frequently introduce this plant. As a result, it is becoming less difficult to find. Lobelia cardinalis is also found from Mexico south through Central America to northern Colombia.

Lobelia genus is native to both the Old and New World.  There are almost 400 species in this large genus which is made up of herbs, shrubs, and small trees.  The leaves are usually alternate and frequently sessile.  Many species have a preference for damp or moist areas.  There are 45 species and 36 subspecies growing in greater North America, including Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Greenland.  Lobelia genus can be easily recognized by the tubular flowers that  have two upward pointing lobes and three downward pointing lobes.  Following is an incomplete list of some of the species in this  genus found in the eastern United States:

Species                          Common Name       Location

Lobelia amoena  (near elongata)                 Georgia
Lobelia boykinii                                                   South Carolina, Ga. , Florida
Lobelia canbyi                                                    Tennessee Georgia, N. Carolina
Lobelia dortmanna       Water                          New Jersey to  Minnesota
Lobelia elongata           Longleaf                    Coastal SE United States
Lobelia glandulosa  (near elongata)            Virginia to  Florida  
Lobelia inflata                  Indian Tobacco      Most of eastern North America
Lobelia kalmii                  Brook                          Canada to Iowa to New Jersey
Lobelia nuttallii                                                      Virginia, Kentucky, Florida
Lobelia puberula             Downy                       Eastern Coastal Plain
Lobelia siphilitica            Great                          N. England to Manitoba & South
Lobelia spicata                Pale Spike               Most of eastern North America

Bellflower Family (Campanulaceae) is a large family of 1500-2000 species of wide distribution. As of 1994, there were about 234 species in 25 genera either native to or established in greater North America, including Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Hawaii, and Greenland.

Campanulate is a large order usually divided into six different  families. The largest of these is the Aster (Composite) Family.

Dicots (Dicotyledoneae Class) are the predominant group of vascular plants on earth. With the exception of the grasses (Monocots) and the Conifers (Gymnosperms), most of the larger plants that one encounters are  Dicots. Dicots are characterized by having a seed with two outer shell coverings. Some of the more primitive Dicots are the typical hardwood trees (oaks, birches, hickories, etc). The more advanced Dicots include many of the Composite Family flowers like the  Dandelion, Aster, Thistles, and Sunflowers. Although many Monocots reach a very high degree of specialization, most botanists feel that the Dicots represent the most advanced group of plants.

Seed plants (Phylum Embryophyta) are generally grouped into one large phylum containing three major classes: the Gymnosperms, the Monocots, and the Dicots. (Some scientists separate the Gymnosperms into a separate phylum and refer to the remaining plants as flowering plants or Angiospermae.)

For North American counts of the number of species in each genus and family, the primary reference has been John T. Kartesz, author of A Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland (1994). The geographical scope of his lists include, as part of greater North America, Hawaii, Alaska, Greenland, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

Kartesz lists 21,757 species of vascular plants comprising the ferns, gymnosperms and flowering plants as being found in greater North America (including Alaska, Hawaii, Greenland, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands).

There are estimates within the scientific world that about half of the listed North American seed plants were originally native with the balance being comprised of Eurasian and tropical plants that have become established.

Plant kingdom contains a large variety of different organisms including mosses, ferns, and seed plants. Most plants manufacture their energy from sunlight and water. Identification of many species is difficult in that most individual plants have characteristics that have variables based on soil moisture, soil chemistry, and sunlight.

Because of the difficulty in learning and identifying different plant groups, specialists have emerged that study only a limited group of plants. These specialists revise the taxonomy and give us detailed descriptions and ranges of the various species.  Their results are published in technical journals and written with highly specialized words that apply to a specific group.

On the other hand, there are the nature publishers. These people and companies undertake the challenging task of trying to provide easy to use pictures and descriptions to identify those species.