Strangler fig

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The Strangler Fig (Ficus citrifolia) is a species of banyan fig, native to southern Florida, the Caribbean Islands, Central America and northern South America south to Paraguay. It is distinguished from the closely related Florida Strangler Fig (Ficus aurea) mainly by the finer veining in the leaves.

The strangler fig is also known as Ficus barbata, which gave Barbados its name.

Strangler figs begin their lives as epiphytes as their seed lodge in the cracks and crevices of the bark of a host. The seeds germinate and send out air roots. During this initial phase the plant grows comparitively slowly. Each air root takes in nutrients and water from the air and host tree. Eventually the air roots grow to reach the ground and develop their own underground root system, independent of the host tree.

This is when the strangler fig earns its name. It begins to grow very quickly, often during this process, the strangler fig covers the host tree with its own trunk and strangles the host tree, hence the common name.

New branches grow and if these reach the ground, they will send out new shoots and roots. Over time, this can create a compound structure of trees that covers a large area of interlocking vines.

The host tree is forced to compete for water & light and prevented from growing by the Stranglers hold on its trunk.

In time the host tree dies and rots away. The Strangler fig does not collapse however and continues to exist as a hollow tubular lattice which many forest animals use as shelter.

The Strangler has a round, spreading crown. Its leaves are alternate, simple, evergreen, and oblong to elliptical in shape. The leaves are 2" to 5" long and 1" to 3" wide with a sharp tip and wedge-shaped base. The margins are complete. The thick, leathery leaves are yellow-green, lustrous on top, and paler on the bottom. The fruit is yellow to reddish purple, fleshy, ½" long, and has a fig-like structure containing small drupelets. The bark is unique in that it is smooth, ashy gray but it can become scaly on larger trunks and fall off to expose the black inner bark. The trunk of this agent of death is hollow, and serves as an important niche for rainforest animals. It also provides homes for invertebrates, rodents, bats, reptiles, amphibians, and birds. The fruit of the tree is quite large and appetizing; so many animals will eat it. Few seeds are destroyed during digestion, which allows the plant to spread to different areas. The tree, as other caprifigs do, has an unusual mutualism with a Gall wasp known as the Fig wasp. Each fruit has a tiny hole, an entrance just large enough for the female gall wasp, full of eggs, to enter. As she squeezes through the entrance, she loses both her wings and it is impossible for her to leave after entering. She deposits the pollen that she has carried and lays her eggs in the stigma of the flowers within the fig seed. Then she dies, and the gap in the fig wall closes. After a few days, the young male wasps (Who develop faster than females) hatch and chew open the eggs of the females and mate with them. The males then chew a hole in the side of the fig fruit and proceed to die. During their exit, the winged females are brushed with pollen. The female wasps, then full of eggs, must make one last flight with their delicate wings. During one flight, the female must not only find the right species of fig, but one in the right stage of development. If she fails, she can not have the strength to make another flight. If she succeeds upon finding the correct species with the right characteristics, she will reenact the process of her mother, ensuring another generation of wasps, and hence another generation of Ficus.

External links

• Stranglers and Banyans