Strangler fig is the common name for a number of

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

and subtropical plant species in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

Ficus ''Ficus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extendi ...

'', including those that are commonly known as

banyan A banyan, also spelled "banian", is a fig that develops accessory trunks from adventitious prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees with a strangler habit that begin life as a ...

s. Some of the more well-known species are: * ''

Ficus altissima ''Ficus altissima'', commonly known as the council tree and lofty fig, is a species of flowering plant, a fig tree in the family Moraceae. It is a large, stately evergreen hemiepiphyte and is native to southeastern Asia. Description ''Ficus a ...

'' * '' Ficus aurea'', also known as the Florida strangler fig * ''

Ficus benghalensis ''Ficus benghalensis'', commonly known as the banyan, banyan fig and Indian banyan, is a tree native to the Indian Subcontinent. Specimens in India are among the largest trees in the world by canopy coverage. It also known as the " strangler fig ...

'' * ''

Ficus benjamina ''Ficus benjamina'', commonly known as weeping fig, benjamin fig or ficus tree, and often sold in stores as just ficus, is a species of flowering plant in the family Moraceae, native to Asia and Australia. It is the official tree of Bangkok. The ...

'' * ''

Ficus burtt-davyi ''Ficus burtt-davyi'' is a fig species endemic to Southern Africa, belonging to the Mulberry family of Moraceae. It grows in coastal and inland forests up to 1500m, from the vicinity of Mossel Bay in the Southern Cape to southern Mozambique - ...

'' * ''

Ficus citrifolia ''Ficus citrifolia'', also known as the shortleaf fig, giant bearded fig, Jagüey, wild banyantree and Wimba tree, is a species of banyan native to southern Florida, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, and northern South America south to Par ...

'' * '' Ficus craterostoma'' * ''

Ficus tinctoria ''Ficus tinctoria'', also known as dye fig, or humped fig is a hemiepiphytic tree of genus ''Ficus''. It is also one of the species known as '' strangler fig''. It is found in Asia, Malesia, northern Australia, and the South Pacific islands. ...

'' * ''

Ficus macrophylla ''Ficus macrophylla'', commonly known as the Moreton Bay fig or Australian banyan, is a large evergreen banyan tree of the family Moraceae native to eastern Australia, from the Wide Bay–Burnett region in the north to the Illawarra in New ...

'' * ''

Ficus obliqua ''Ficus obliqua'', commonly known as the small-leaved fig, is a tree in the family Moraceae, native to eastern Australia, New Guinea, eastern Indonesia to Sulawesi and islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. Previously known for many years as ...

'' * ''

Ficus virens ''Ficus virens'' is a plant of the genus ''Ficus'' found in Pakistan, India, southeast Asia, through Malaysia and into Northern Australia. Its common name is white fig; it is locally known as ''pilkhan'' and in the Kunwinjku language it is calle ...

'' *''

Ficus watkinsiana ''Ficus watkinsiana'', commonly known as strangler fig, Watkins' fig, nipple fig or the green-leaved Moreton Bay fig is a hemiepiphytic fig that is endemic to Australia. The species exists in three populations—one in northeast Queensland and ...

'' *''

Ficus henneana ''Ficus henneana'' is a strangler fig only occurring in Australia. Previously considered a variety of ''Ficus superba'' which occurs in China, Japan and parts of South East Asia. The cedar fig or deciduous fig grows in Australia from Milton, New ...

'' These all share a common "strangling" growth habit that is found in many

tropical forest Tropical forests (a.k.a. jungle) are forested landscapes in tropical regions: ''i.e.'' land areas approximately bounded by the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing winds. Some tropical fore ...

species, particularly of the genus ''

''. This growth habit is an adaptation for growing in dark

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s where the competition for light is intense. Strangler figs suck up the nutrients from its victims, causing them to die eventually. These plants are hemiepiphytes, spending the first part of their life without rooting into the ground. Their

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosper ...

s, often bird- dispersed,

germinate Germination is the process by which an organism grows from a seed or spore. The term is applied to the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an angiosperm or gymnosperm, the growth of a sporeling from a spore, such as the spores of fungi, fer ...

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. However, it is also believed that the strangler fig can help its support tree survive storms. Strangler trees are able to colonize the challenging habitat found on the sides of buildings in urban areas. Strangler figs in the tropics are pre-adapted to adopt an aerophytic as well as "acrobatic" urban life by clinging on to building envelopes.

Gallery

File:Strangler fig plant.jpg, A strangler fig sapling starts to grow on a tree. Roots can be seen File:Corkscrew - bald cypress and strangler fig.jpg, The trunk of a bald cypress, surrounded by the roots of a strangler fig Image:Strangler_tree.jpg, A strangler fig. The supporting tree, now dead, can also be seen. Photo from Kannavam forest Image:Wuergefeige_2.jpg, Old strangler fig in the final stage, Costa-Rica, Pacific File:Corkscrew - bald cypress with strangler fig inside.jpg, A cross section of a bald cypress at the

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is a National Audubon Society sanctuary located in southwest Florida, north of Naples, Florida and east of Bonita Springs, in the United States. The sanctuary was established to protect one of the largest remaining stands ...

, showing the roots of a strangler fig inside of it Image:Strangler fig inside.jpg, 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.

References

External links

The Tropical Rain Forest
including photos of strangler figs
The Queen of Trees: Fig Trees – From the Sacred to the Strangler

Being strangled may save this tree’s life
{{Plant common name Epiphytes de:Feigen#Würgefeigen

Gallery

See also

References

External links