This lifeform is found in northern Eurasia. This lifeform is found north of the Mason Dixon line in North America. This lifeform is found in swamps or very moist ground.

Marsh Parnassia (Parnassia palustris) is found from Quebec and Labrador west to Alaska , south to Michigan, Minnesota, and North Dakota. This species is also found in northern Eurasia. It is less than one foot tall. The somewhat round shaped basal leaves are obtuse at the apex and heart-shaped at the base and on long petioles. The stem leaves are usually sessile.

Parnassia genus is native to temperate and arctic regions in the Northern Hemisphere.  There are about 15 species of perennial herbs in this genus.  These herbs are usually smooth and evergreen.  There were 11 species and six named subspecies established in greater North America as of 1994.  (There is a genus in the swallowtail butterfly group with a similar spelling entitled Parnassius.)

Saxifrage Family (Saxifragaceae) contains herbs, bushes, and trees found throughout the world. There are about 650 to 1200 species in this family. There is controversy over the limits of this family as various authors define it differently. For example, the Hydrangea and Philadelphus group is frequently given separate family status in the Hydrangeaceae family. The Ribes group is also frequently given family status in the Grossulariaceae family. Kartesz shows 174 species in the Saxifrage family; another 52 species in the Hydrangea family, and another 57 species in the Grossulariaceae family growing in greater North America.)

Rose Group (Order Rosales) contains many large and very important families. Included here are fruit trees in the family Rosaceae, the nitrogen fixing plants like clover and alfalfa (in the family  Leguminosae), and a large assemblage of plants divided into over fifteen different families.

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.