June 2002
Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve, along the 2000 foot boardwalk

Samn'erics' Epic Big Cypress Adventure!
Note the Strangler Fig, Ficus aurea, growing around this old growth cypress tree
The Strangler Fig seeds disperse by wind or through bird droppings. If the seed gets lodged in a
tree in the right environment it will germinate.  As it grows, it drops long aerial roots to the
ground and twists itself around its host victim's trunk. Eventually the Strangler Fig will out
compete its host for light, water, and nutrients. The death of the host follows. By the time
the host dies and decays, the strangler has begun produce and send more of its seeds into the
swamp or hammock to find more tree hosts.