Florida Flora and Fauna, Volume 1

We denizens of Florida are quite amused when we hear northerners groaning about a heat wave (this, during the summertime!) Northerners act as if it were something new.

Florida is heat wave central! Down here, we ride heat waves on surf boards.

Admittedly, this summer’s heat indexes (temp + humidity) are pretty bad, but Floridians live this sweltering martyrdom every summer. Except for the most recent arrivals, we have all toughened up to life in the perpetual sauna.

Temperatures in the nineties? – HAH, our daily bread! Heat index over 100? – Nothing to see here folks, keep moving!

There is an Upside

A message to northerners: as God would have it, there is also a very positive side to heat and humidity, and it’s quite beautiful. We’ll just lump it all under the title of Florida Flora and Fauna to give you a taste of the wonders that a semi-tropical climate like ours can produce.

Good things thrive in heat and humidity.

Take a look at the following beauties that can be found in any random neighborhood of South Florida (but it just so happens that all of these are in my neighborhood). They are stunning in their tropical clothing and, um, steamy attitudes.

The Neighborhood Divas (Royal Poincianas)

I did a Mini-Window about this magnificent tree. When she is in full bloom, there is none more glorious. In the Caribbean islands, they call her “Flamboyant”—a label she wears with pizazz!

Our Spikey Neighborhood Defenders (Amazing Agaves)

There are hundreds of species of agave plant, most native to Mexico, but we have one species that is 100% Floridian (below left) and many other impressive specimens dotting our landscape. Here we have small, medium, and large versions:

The Most Delicious Fruit on the Planet (actually in my backyard)

Mango trees are found in just about any hot and humid place, but the name comes from India where it is called Mankay. These trees can grow to 100 feet or more and can live for generations, even hundreds of years in ideal tropical environments.

Truly, there is no sweeter taste in the world than a ripe mango just off the tree (if the squirrels don’t get it first, that is).

I could go on all day about Florida’s abundant beauty, but I’ll treat you to more unique Florida flora and fauna in future editions.

Suffice it to say that the Sacred Windows theme is never disproven: there is beauty everywhere 1/ if we have eyes to see it, and 2/ even when it’s 100 degrees out!

Fair Warnings

Of course, you need vigilance to live in Florida too. It’s not all paradise. Apart from alligators and such, you have to watch out for the famed Florida Iguanas (left). They’re not your average gecko. They seize up and fall out of trees when it gets cold, which is why northerners need not worry that these fierce-looking monsters will be invading the north any time soon.

Then you have the nearly two-foot long, lime green lizards (above right) called Knight Anoles (probably because they look like they are wearing armor and helmets). Would you be surprised to know that they are natives of Cuba? And by the way, the bright, nearly florescent green really is their true color.

Speaking of color, Floridians often see the multi-hued Agama terrorizing smaller lizards around their properties. But don’t worry, all of these lizard creatures are more dangerous to insects and other lizards than they are to humans or animals.

It’s just that you tend to jump out of your skin when you look up and see them staring at you from the fence.

And, of course, you always need to be on the lookout for these in the summer:

We all have to take the good with the bad, I guess.

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Photo Credits: Via Wikimedia Commons: Florida Sunset (Anish Patel); Iguana (Rjcastillo); Agama (Bernard DUPONT); all other images by Peter Darcy.