Brown Dragon
Dragon's Blood
Dragon's-mouth
Dragon Worm
Komodo Dragon
Snapdragon
Water Dragon
Back to the library
Komodo dragon
The Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis) is the largest extant lizard species, of the monitor lizard
family Varanidae. It occurs on Komodo Island and a few neighbouring
islands of the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia. Almost extinct because of
collectors, the lizard is now protected.The reptile grows to 3 m (10 feet) in length, attains a weight of about 135 kg (about 300 pounds), and may live to an age of about 100 years. It digs a burrow as deep as 9 m and lays eggs that hatch in April or May. The newly hatched young, about 45 cm (18 inches) long, live in trees for several months. Adult Komodo dragons eat smaller members of their own species and sometimes even other adults. They can run swiftly and occasionally attack and kill human beings. Carrion, however, is their main diet, and the lizard may travel several kilometres (a few miles) from its burrow each day in search of food.
Back to beginning
Dragon Worm
Guinea Worm
Also called Medina Worm, or Dragon Worm (species Dracunculus medinensis), member of the class Nematoda (phylum Aschelminthes). The guinea worm, a common parasite of man in tropical regions of Asia and Africa, has also been introduced into the West Indies and tropical South America. In addition to humans, a variety of other mammals are parasitized by the guinea worm. The disease caused by the worm is called dracunculiasis.
The female grows to a length of 50 to 120 cm (about 20 to 48 inches); the male (which is rarely found because it dies upon mating within a human or other host) measures 12 to 29 mm (about 0.5 to 1.1 inches). Both sexes live in the connective tissue of various organs of the body. Females may live for 10 to 14 months. The female bores close to the skin surface, at which point a blister develops and finally bursts. Millions of larvae are released with the blister fluid. If the larvae are discharged into a watery medium and are eaten by Cyclops, an aquatic crustacean, they develop in the crustacean's body into larvae capable of infecting human beings.
The human being becomes infected when he drinks water containing the barely visible flealike crustacean containing the worm larvae. Gastric juices kill Cyclops, and the guinea worm larvae bore from man's intestinal tract into blood vessels; they are carried to connective tissue areas, where they develop into adults. Adult worms slowly emerge from blisters, especially on the victim's legs or feet. When the victim enters a pond, stream, or other water, the released larvae are eaten by the crustaceans, to continue the cycle.
For humans the disease dracunculiasis can be extremely debilitating and painful, with worms slowly emerging from open blisters. The open blisters are also a common point of entry for other infections, such as tetanus.
Back to beginning
Brown Dragon
Jack-in-the-pulpit
Also called INDIAN TURNIP, BOG ONION, BROWN DRAGON, OR STARCHWORT (species Arisaema triphyllum), a North American plant of the arum family (Araceae), noted for the unusual shape of its flower. The plant is native to wet woodlands and thickets from Nova Scotia to Minnesota and southward to Florida and Texas. It is a stoutish perennial, 1 to 2.5 feet (0.3 to 0.8 m) high, and usually bears two long-stalked, three-parted leaves that overshadow the flower. The latter consists of a conspicuous green- and purple-striped structure called a spathe, which rises on a separate stalk between the leaves. The flowering spathe curves in a hood over a club-shaped structure called a spadix, near the base of which are borne the plant's minute flowers. The plant's fruit ripens in late summer into a cluster of brilliant red berries. The jack-in-the-pulpit is one of the best-known wildflowers of the eastern United States and Canada during the late spring.
Back to beginning
Dragon's Blood
The red resin obtained from the fruit of several palms of the genus Daemonorops and used in colouring varnishes and lacquers. Once valued as a medicine in Europe because of its astringent properties, dragon's blood now is used as a varnish for violins and in photoengraving for preventing undercutting of the printing surface during etching.
Daemonorops draco, a rattan palm native to Malaysia and Indonesia, produces much of the dragon's blood of commerce. Other sources are Dracaena cinnabari of the island of Socotra, east of Somalia; Dracaena draco of the Canary Islands; and Croton draco of Mexico, where it is used locally to heal wounds and as an astringent.
Back to beginning
Water Dragon
Lizard's Tail
Also called Water Dragon, (Saururus cernuus), member of the lizard's-tail family (Saururaceae), found in marshy areas of eastern North America. The plant has creeping stems, or runners. Erect branches about 60 to 150 centimetres (2 to 5 feet) tall bear heart-shaped leaves on long stalks. Small, white flowers grow in a spike with a drooping tip (the lizard's tail).
Back to beginning
Dragon's-mouth
Also called BOG PINK, OR WILD PINK, (Arethusa bulbosa), one of two plant
species of the orchid genus Arethusa, family Orchidaceae. Dragon's-mouth
is found only in North American bogs; the other species exists only in
marshy areas of Japan.A reddish-pink dragon's-mouth flower has three erect sepals and a purplish-blotched lip that curves downward. The upper surface of the lip is covered with a thick tissue bearing many yellowish, purple-tipped hairs. A hood arches over the lip. The stem is about 30 centimetres (12 inches) tall and bears one long, sharp-pointed leaf after the flowering season.
Back to beginning
Snapdragon
A snapdragon is any herbaceous plant of the genus Antirrhinum (order
Scrophulariales, family Scrophulariaceae), of which there are about
40 species native to western North America and the western
Mediterranean region. The flowers are tubular, bilaterally
symmetrical, and usually large with a closed, liplike mouth that
excludes most insects but can be forced open by strong bees, the
main pollinators.Snapdragons are popular garden plants, and many horticultural varieties exist. Galvezia speciosa, a related plant, is also called snapdragon.
Picture is Common Snapdragon (Antirrhinum Majus)
Back to beginning