Strangler fig

[[Image:Ficus watkinsiana on Syzygium hemilampra-Iluka.jpg|thumb|210px|''Ficus watkinsiana'' on ''Syzygium hemilampra'', Australia]]

'''Strangler fig''' is the common name for a number of tropical and subtropical plant species in the genus ''Ficus'', including those that are commonly known as banyans.

==Species== Some of the more well-known species are: * ''Ficus altissima'' – southern China and tropical Asia * ''Ficus aurea'' – Florida, the Caribbean and Central America * ''Ficus benghalensis'' – Indian subcontinent * ''Ficus benjamina'' – tropical and subtropical Asia to northern Australia * ''Ficus burtt-davyi'' – southeastern Africa * ''Ficus citrifolia'' – Florida and tropical America * ''Ficus craterostoma'' – tropical and southern Africa * ''Ficus henneana'' – northern and eastern Australia * ''Ficus macrophylla'' – eastern Australia and Lord Howe Island * ''Ficus microcarpa'' - southeast Asia to Australia * ''Ficus obliqua'' – Maluku Islands, Papuasia, northern Australia and southwestern Pacific * ''Ficus tinctoria'' – Indian subcontinent and southern China to northern Australia and southwestern Pacific * ''Ficus virens'' – tropical and subtropical Asia to northern Australia and western Pacific * ''Ficus watkinsiana'' – eastern Australia

These all share a common "strangling" growth habit that is found in many tropical forest species.<ref>Zhekun, Zhou & Michael G. Gilbert (2003) "Flora of China" (Moraceae) 5: 21–73. [http://hua.huh.harvard.edu/china/mss/volume05/Moraceae.pdf hua.huh.harvard.edu] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060901100148/http://hua.huh.harvard.edu/china/mss/volume05/Moraceae.pdf |date=2006-09-01 }}</ref>{{Failed verification|reason=The source does not discuss the definition of the strangling habit, nor its prevalence |date=October 2024}} This growth habit is an adaptation for growing in dark forests where the competition for light is intense. These plants are hemiepiphytes, spending the first part of their life without rooting into the ground. 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.<ref>Serventy, V. (1984). ''Australian Native Plants''. Victoria: Reed Books.</ref><ref>"Light in the rainforest" 1992 Tropical topics. Vol 1 No. 5, [http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/register/p00820ar.pdf epa.qld.gov.au] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070701035940/http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/register/p00820ar.pdf |date=2007-07-01 }}</ref>

An original support tree can sometimes die, so that the strangler fig becomes a "columnar tree" with a hollow central core.<ref name="LowmanRinker2004">{{cite book|author1=Margaret Lowman|author2=H. Bruce Rinker|title=Forest Canopies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F471I0uJv-8C&pg=PA180|year=2004|publisher=Academic Press|isbn=978-0-12-457553-0|pages=180–}}</ref> However, it is also believed that the strangler fig can help its support tree survive storms.<ref name="RichardHalkin2017">{{cite journal |last1=Richard |first1=Leora. |last2=Halkin |first2=Sylvia |date=June 2017 |title= Strangler figs may support their host trees during severe storms |journal=Symbiosis |volume=72 |issue=2 |pages=153–157 |doi=10.1007/s13199-017-0484-5|bibcode=2017Symbi..72..153R |s2cid=29202538 }}</ref>

==Uses== After many decades spent living outdoors in the rainforests of northern Queensland, Australia, hermetic bushman Michael 'Tarzan' Fomenko (c.1930–2018) settled upon sleeping amidst giant strangler fig roots.<ref name = FR>{{cite news |last=Robson |first=Frank |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-real-life-tarzan-of-australias-deep-north-20110402-1csjp.html |title=The Real-Life Tarzan of Australia's Deep North |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=2011-04-03 |access-date=2026-02-26 }}</ref><ref name = JV>{{cite news |last=Vyver |first=James |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-20/on-the-trail-of-michael-tarzan-fomenko/7858784 |title=On the trail of Michael 'Tarzan' Fomenko |work=ABC News |date=2016-09-20 |access-date=2026-02-26 }}</ref> On occasions when black snakes, scrub turkeys and goannas were a threat or a nuisance, he would sleep up in the tree.<ref name="Radio_Earshot">{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/earshot/finding-australias-tarzan/9273188 |title=Earshot: Finding Australia's Tarzan |date=2018-01-02 |type=Audio |publisher=ABC Radio National |place=Ultimo, Sydney |access-date=2026-03-07 |people=Melville, Kirsty; Vyver, James; McKellar, Phil; Taranto, Claudia; Fomenko, Inessa; Saffen, Karen; Wighton, Chris; Hunter, Ernest; Elliott, Sam; Dunne, Barbara; Patterson, Josh }}</ref>{{rp|02:35}}

==Gallery== <gallery mode="packed"> File:Strangler fig plant.jpg|A fig seedling with thread-like roots on an unknown host File:Corkscrew - bald cypress and strangler fig.jpg|The trunk of a bald cypress, encircled by fig roots File:Strangler_tree.jpg|A strangler fig. The supporting tree, now dead, can also be seen File:Wuergefeige_2.jpg|Mature fig standing above the surrounding forest File:Corkscrew - bald cypress with strangler fig inside.jpg|A cross section of a bald cypress at the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, showing the fig roots inside it File:Strangler fig inside.jpg|View looking through the hollow core of a fig after the host has died and rotted away </gallery>

==References== {{reflist|ref=  }}

==External links== {{commons category|Strangler figs}} * [http://www.marietta.edu/~biol/biomes/troprain.htm The Tropical Rain Forest], including photos of strangler figs * [https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/the-queen-of-trees-fig-trees-from-the-sacred-to-the-strangler/1353/ The Queen of Trees: Fig Trees – From the Sacred to the Strangler] * [https://www.science.org/content/article/being-strangled-may-save-tree-s-life Being strangled may save this tree’s life]

Category:Ficus Category:Epiphytes

de:Feigen#Würgefeigen