Strangler Fig.html

A strangler fig in Bunya Mountains National Park, Queensland 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
Pohutukawa (Metrosideros robusta) in the warm-temperate rainforest of New Zealand

They all share a common "strangling" growth habit that is found in many tropical forest species, particularly of the genus Ficus.¹This growth habit is an adaptation for growing in dark forests where the competition for light is intense. This plant generally grows in Florida and the Bahamas. 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 envelope the host tree while also growing upward to reach into the sunlight zone above the canopy.²³

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

References

^ Zhekun, Zhou & Michael G. Gilbert (2003) Flora of China (Moraceae) 5: 21-73. [1]
^ Serventy, V. 1984. Australian Native Plants. Victoria: Reed Books.
^ Light in the rainforest 1992 Tropical topics. Vol 1 No. 5 [2]

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