IGUANA

Iguanas are native to the jungles of central and south America, and the Caribbean. The iguana is a large docile species of lizard, meaning that iguanas are often a popular choice when keeping exotic pets.

Iguanas have excellent sight allowing the iguana to detect movement from incredibly long distances. The iguana can use this skill to seek out prey and be aware of approaching predators often before the predators has even noticed the iguana.

It is said that the iguana uses visual signals to communicate with other iguanas. The iguanas do this through a series a rapid eye movements that other iguanas are able to pick up on easily due to the excellent sight of the iguana.

Green Iguanas are forest dwelling lizards that live high in the tree canopy of the South American rainforest. Young iguanas get to grips with tree top living by staying in areas lower in the canopies while older mature adult iguanas reside higher up in the tree tops. This tree dwelling habit allows the iguana to bask in the sun, with little need to go down to the forest floor below. The only real exception to this is when the

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Reptilia

Order: Squamata

Family: Iguanidae

Genus: Iguana

Scientific Name: Iguana Iguana

Type: Reptile

Diet: Omnivore

Size: 0.91-1.83m (3-6ft)

Weight: 4-8kg (8.8-17.6lbs)

Top Speed: 35km/h (21mph)

Life Span: 15-20 years

Lifestyle: Solitary

Conservation Status: Threatened

Colour: Green, Brown, Yellow

Skin Type: Scales

Favourite Food: Insects

Habitat: Lowland tropical rainforest near water

Average Litter Size: 3

Main Prey: Insects, Fruit, Leaves

Predators: Hawk, Eagle, Snakes

Special Features: Long tongue and change skin colour with mood

female iguanas must come down from their sky high home in order to dig burrows in which the female iguanas lay their eggs.

Although iguanas tend to prefer the forest environment, iguanas can adjust well to a more open areas. However, wherever the iguanas inhabit, iguanas prefer to have water around them as iguanas are excellent swimmers and will often dive beneath the water to avoid oncoming predators.

Although iguanas are classed as omnivores, most iguana individuals in the wild, tend to enjoy a very herbivorous diet, with ripened fruit being one of the iguanas favourite foods along with leafy green plants. Most mature adult iguanas weigh around 4 kg, but it is not uncommon for large, healthy iguanas where food is in good supply, to weigh up to 8 kg and grow to over 2 meters in length.

Due to the natural green and brown colours of the scales of the iguana, iguanas are easily able to make themselves invisible to predators. Iguanas do this well as the iguana blends extremely effectively into the surrounding forest and the iguana will then remain extremely still until the predator has passed. Iguanas will often chose basking spots on those tree branches that hang over water so that if the iguana does feel threated, the iguana can leap from the tree into the water and therefore the iguana can quickly escape oncoming danger

OKRA

Geography and distribution

Species information

Scientific name: 

Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench

Common name: 

okra, lady’s fingers, gumbo, okro (English); gombo, gumbo (French); bandakai, bindi (India); Kachang bendi (Malay); quimgombó (Spanish).

Conservation status: 

Widespread in cultivation.

Key Uses: 

Food, fibre, traditional medicine.

Known hazards: 

Irritating hairs are sometimes present on leaves and stems, and traces of alkaloid have been reported in leaves.

Taxonomy

Class: 

Equisetopsida

Subclass: 

Magnoliidae

Superorder: 

Rosanae

Order: 

Malvales

Family: 

Malvaceae

Genus: Abelmoschus

Available evidence suggests that okra originated in Africa, where the vast majority of primitive forms and wild relatives are found. It is thought likely to have come from the Sahel region, south of the Sahara (from Mali eastwards to Ethiopia).

Many publications give India as the country of origin, but this is more likely to be a reflection of where it is currently used. There are no names for okra in the classical languages of the Indo-Persian area, suggesting that it probably did not originate there. Later it was introduced to the Americas during the slave trade.

Okra is widespread in cultivation in the tropics, subtropics and warmer temperate zones. It is particularly popular in Africa, India, the Philippines, Thailand, Brazil, Turkey, Spain and the southern USA. It is naturalised in some areas.

The related species West African okra (Abelmoschus manihot) is restricted to the humid and perhumid (wettest) climates of Africa.

Overview: An annual, erect herb up to 5 m (but typically about 2 m) tall. Stems succulent with scattered, stiff hairs. The whole plant has an aromatic smell resembling cloves.

Leaves: Up to 50 cm wide and 35 cm long, deeply lobed, with toothed margins, hairy on both surfaces, especially on the nerves. Each leaf is borne on a petiole (leaf stalk) up to 50 cm long.

Flowers: Showy, up to 8 cm in diameter, usually yellow with a dark red, purple or mauve centre, borne on a stout flower stalk (peduncle) up to 4 cm long. Stamens (male parts) united into a white, hairless column up to 2.5 cm long. Stigmas (female parts) dark purple. Calyx (whorl of sepals) and epicalyx (whorl of bracts) both present.

Fruits: A capsule, 10–20 cm long, roughly circular in cross-section with a pointed end, usually 5-ribbed, borne at the leaf axils. Immature fruit can be purple-red, reddish-green, dark green, pale green or yellow. At maturity, fruits turn brown and split into segments.

Seeds: Each fruit has up to 100 spherical or ovoid seeds bearing minute warts in concentric rows.

Many cultivars are available, for example ‘Clemson Spineless’, ‘Indiana’, ‘Emerald’ (USA) and ‘Pusa Sawani’ (India).