Strangler Fig is the common name for a number of tree species belonging to the Ficus genus. Light is hard to come by in the rain forest, and these trees (and some vines) have developed an interesting adaptation in cooperation of their plant and animal neighbors. Animals eat the fruit of the parent tree and deposit the seeds on a branch or in the crook of a tree or rock. Of course not all seeds germinate, only those that receive enough light--hence germination is more likely to occur closer to the forest canopy. Roots tangle around the host toward the ground as branches and leaves reach for the sky. A hollow cavity is all that remains if/when the host dies and decomposes.

Santa Elena Cloud Forest, Costa Rica