Narrative

Brook Lobelia (Lobelia kalmii) is found in eastern North America from Canada to Iowa and New Jersey. The basal leaves are spatulate with petioles that flow into the leaf; the upper leaves are more narrow. The blue flowers with white centers help to separate this Lobelia from similar species. This small plant rarely exceeds sixteen inches in height.

The blue color will help identify this lifeform. This lfieform is found in swamps or very moist ground. This lifeform is locally common.

This lifeform is found east of the Continental Divide in North America.

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 (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.