The Strangler
Those thick "vines" criss-crossing the tree trunk are the roots of the Florida Strangler Fig (Ficus aurea). Their seeds may germinate in the upper branches of a host tree and grow as an epiphyte (air plant), sending it's roots down to the ground. As the roots grow around the host tree, they may kill the host, and the fig becomes a free standing tree.
Another amazing adaptation of the Strangler Fig involves their method of reproduction. They produce male and female flowers on the same tree, but they can only be pollinated by the Fig Wasp; and the Fig Wasp can only lay eggs on Strangler Figs, a relationship called "mutualism", wherein two species provide a benefit to each other but both are dependent on the other.
Seen at National Audubon's Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, Florida.
The Strangler
Those thick "vines" criss-crossing the tree trunk are the roots of the Florida Strangler Fig (Ficus aurea). Their seeds may germinate in the upper branches of a host tree and grow as an epiphyte (air plant), sending it's roots down to the ground. As the roots grow around the host tree, they may kill the host, and the fig becomes a free standing tree.
Another amazing adaptation of the Strangler Fig involves their method of reproduction. They produce male and female flowers on the same tree, but they can only be pollinated by the Fig Wasp; and the Fig Wasp can only lay eggs on Strangler Figs, a relationship called "mutualism", wherein two species provide a benefit to each other but both are dependent on the other.
Seen at National Audubon's Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, Florida.