Strangler fig

Ficus watkinsiana on Syzygium hemilampra, Iluka, Australia

A columnar tree formed by a strangler fig after the central tree has died. The tree is hollow as seen in this photograph from below.

Strangler fig is the common name for a number of tropical and subtropical plant species, including some banyans and unrelated vines, including among many other species:

• Ficus aurea, also known as the Florida Strangler Fig
• Ficus barbata, also known as the Bearded Fig
• Ficus watkinsiana
• Ficus obliqua
• Ficus benghalensis

They all share a common "strangling" growth habit that is found in many tropical forest species, particularly of the genus Ficus. This growth habit is an adaptation for growing in dark forests where the competition for light is intense. These plants begin life as epiphytes, when their seeds, often bird-dispersed, germinate in crevices atop other trees. These seedlings grow their roots downward and envelop the host tree while also growing upward to reach into the sunlight zone above the canopy.

An original support tree can sometimes die, so that the strangler fig becomes a "columnar tree" with a hollow central core.

Gallery

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  Strangler Fig in Quintana Roo, Mexico

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  Hollow trunked strangler fig at Cape Tribulation, Australia

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  An example of the "strangler fig".

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  A strangler fig in Bunya Mountains National Park, Australia.

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  A strangler fig "strangling" a boulder.

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  Ficus obliqua on Hawkesbury sandstone, Watagans National Park, Australia.

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  A strangler fig in BR Hills, Karnataka, India.

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  Strangler fig on a Native Elm, Richmond River, Australia

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  Hollow base of a strangler fig, Tooloom National Park, Australia

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  Strangler fig on an Australian Rosewood, Barrington Tops

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  Ficus benghalensis, Galle Fort, Sri Lanka

External links

• The Tropical Rain Forest, including photos of strangler figs
• The Queen of Trees: Fig Trees—From the Sacred to the Strangler
• Strangler figs in Meghalaya made into "living bridges"