Narrative

American Oenanthe (Oenanthe sarmentosa) is found from Alaska south to central California. This perennial is sometimes called Pacific water parsley because of its preference for wetlands and bogs. The hairless stems may bend and take root at the nodes. The umbels are somewhat flat topped.

The white color will help identify this lifeform. This lifeform is locally common.

This lifeform is found in the Pacific States and Provinces of North America.

Oenanthe genus is native to the Northern Hemisphere, South Africa, and Australia. There are about 30 species in this genus. They are usually smooth, crawling perennial herbs growing in wet or damp places. The white flowers are small. There are now four species established in greater North America.

Carrot Family (Ammiaceae to Umbelliferae to Apiaceae) is a large family of about 3,000 species most of which occur in the Northern Hemisphere. Although many of the species in this family are eaten for food, there are several similar species that are poisonous. There are 404 species organized into 84 genera now living in greater North America.

Carrot or Umbel Order (Umbelliflorae Order) can be recognized by the fact that their flowers are usually arranged in a radial symmetric pattern called an umbel.

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 (Aster) 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.