What do strangler figs do

When the sticky seeds from a strangler fig cling to clefts and crotches high up in another tree's canopy, they develop as epiphytes, or plants that grow on another plant, but are not parasites. Epiphytic growth is common in tropical rainforests, where the shade is so complete that seedlings have little chance of survival on the ground. The tiny fig plant gets its nutrients at first from sunlight filtering through the canopy, rainfall and leaf litter on the host tree.

Once established, the young strangler figs begin sending aerial roots down to the ground, where they quickly dive into the soil and anchor themselves. The roots may dangle from the host tree's canopy or creep down its trunk. Once in contact with the ground, the fig enters a growth spurt, plundering moisture and nutrients that the host tree needs.

The strangler fig's roots encircle the host tree's roots, cutting off its supply of food and water, ultimately killing the host tree. Meanwhile, back at the epiphyte, the strangler fig is busy producing new leaves and shoots that soon become large enough to overshadow the host tree's foliage, stealing sunlight and rainfall from the host canopy.

By the time the host tree is dead, the strangler fig is large and strong enough to stand on its own, usually encircling the lifeless, often hollow body of the host tree. Strangler fig fruits are gummy and full of tiny seeds, which birds eat. When birds clean their bills on a tree branch, strangler fig seeds get planted and eventually germinate there. The resulting sprout is a tree-living epiphyte.

Since stranger figs do not steal nutrients from their host trees but rather photosynthesize their own food with their own green leaves they are not parasites.

The young strangler fig sends several special rootlike stems down to the soil, reach water and nutrients. Gradually its stems wrap around the host tree's trunk, grow and fuse together until they more or less form a cylinder surrounding the trunk. In time, the host will become a shadow of itself and eventually die. More than 1, species are called "strangler figs" around the world.

In the United States, the one most often called by this name is Ficus aurelia, or the golden fig. This perennial member of the Moraceae family, or mulberry family, grows extremely fast and aggressively, reaching 70 feet or taller with an even wider spread.

The strangler fig produces small fruits that are soft and sweet. It can be found in U. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 9 through Strangler figs are epiphytes, a category of plant that can gain nutrients from the air and rain exclusively. An animal or bird drops the strangler fig seeds on leaves of another tree. The seeds germinate on the leaves or branches of the new host tree. The seedling will send one long root down to the ground to find soil, usually wrapping around the host's bark, while other aerial roots grow upwards.