Strangler fig

Ficus watkinsiana on a Syzygium hemilampra, Iluka, Australia

Strangler Fig is the common name for a number of tropical plant species, including some banyans and unrelated vines, namely:

• 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.^[1] 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.^[2][3]

An original support tree can sometimes die, leaving a "columnar tree", central core empty, of the Strangler Fig. Strangler figs can also leave trees hollow.

Gallery

hollow trunked Strangler Fig at Cape Tribulation, Australia	An example of the "strangler fig".	A strangler fig in Bunya Mountains National Park, Australia.	A strangler fig "strangling" a boulder.
Ficus obliqua on Hawkesbury sandstone, Watagans National Park, Australia.	A strangler fig in BR Hills, Karnataka, India.	Strangler Fig on a Native Elm, Richmond River, Australia	Hollow base of a Strangler Fig, Tooloom National Park, Australia
Strangler Fig on an Australian Rosewood, Barrington Tops

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Strangler figs

• Strangler Fig photo: Florida; Article marietta.edu—"The Tropical Rain Forest"--4 Photos of Strangler Figs/Costa Rica, etc.
• Stranger Fig video; PBS.org

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