Being from England, the species and environment are
obviously very different so I was really excited to get out in South Florida
and explore this semester! I am going to share with you all some of my
particular favorite species and plants that I was introduced to this semester.
ENJOY!!!
The Neem tree I think is one of the most amazing trees I,
personally, have ever seen! It is from India and to say it has some practical
uses is an understatement. People call it the pharmacy tree, as it literally
can provide so many ointments and medicines. The stems of the tree can come in
very handy, as if you crack them in half you can use the inside part to clean
your teeth, and it really works! How cool is that? Neem oil can also be used as
mosquito repellant, which in India can be a life saver. I wanted to use some of
it on our field trip, as I was being bitten alive!
Another plant species that I found really quite amazing were
the fresh moringa leaves we saw at ECHO as well. They are so nutritious and can
really save a child’s life, if they are not getting the nutrients they need for
survival from everyday food. In just 100g of fresh moringa leaves they contain
the following:
7 x vitamin C of oranges
4 x calcium of milk
4 x vitamin A of carrots
3 x potassium of bananas
3 x iron of spinach
2 x protein of milk
Pretty incredible right?!
Mangroves are pretty common in Florida, however I hadn’t
even heard of mangroves before this semester! Shocking! I really loved learning
about the 3 different types, especially the rhymes that went with them:
Red red pointy head
Black black checkerboard back
White white bolts on tight
They really helped me to identify the different types of
mangroves on our various field trips this semester.
When we went to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary we were lucky enough
to see a lubber grasshopper. The lubber is surely the most distinctive
grasshopper species in the southeastern United States. It is well known both
for its size and its unique coloration. The wings offer little help with
mobility for they are rarely more than half the length of the abdomen. This
species is incapable of flight and can jump only short distances. Mostly the
lubber is quite clumsy and slow in movement and travels by walking and crawling
feebly over the substrate. However, their slow speeds can be an advantage to
them as predators don’t tend to see them moving!
As we were walking in corkscrew swamp sanctuary I kept
hearing what I thought was a pig! I later learned that what I was in fact
hearing was the pig frog. They make sounds (oink oink!) just like a pig, hence
their name. I thought this was really cool, as I had never heard/seen of any
such frog before. Check out this video to see what a pig frog really sounds like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWtve8mJLy8
I also learnt about another animal that sounds like a
completely different animal, the grey cat bird…and yes you guessed it, they
sound like cats! Its hard to imagine it unless you hear it, but it is really
realistic, it sounds like there are 10 cats close by rather than 10 birds.
I really enjoyed discovering these plants and species that I
never knew existed! If you haven’t heard of these either you should go and try and find them! I promise that you won't be disappointed.
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