Summary ²

The Strangler fig is typically confined to areas of deep rich soil, whose elevation is usually higher than its surroundings and composed of hardwood and along mangrove edges. The strangler fig can grow from a seed buried in the ground and develop a rather typical trunk and roots. However, it often begins as an epiphyte and for a time derives needed nutrients and moisture from the air and rain. Typically, birds eat the fig’s fruit and deposit seeds between the leaf bases of the cabbage palm which serve as natural catchments. The cabbage palm and oak trees, are its most common hosts but the plant can grow on the occasional house roof and in fissures of bare rock. As an epiphyte, the plant grows until its roots reach the ground. When this occurs, growth increases and the young fig envelops the host plant in a series of aerial roots. As the roots grow, a dense crown of leaves is produced that shades the host tree’s crown. Eventually the aerial roots coalesce into a woody trunk with the host plant ultimately dying in the fig’s hollow core. There is, however, no parasitic feeding by the strangler fig. The mature tree forms a broadly rounded crown with multiple trunks, stout branches, and hanging roots. The size and shape of the leaf is variable. The leaf is simple, entire, alternate, dark green, and somewhat leathery. The leaf blade is elliptical to oblong, with a cordate, acute, or obtuse base and a pointed apex. Mature leaves are normally 4 to 7 inches long. Leaves on young plants or on sprouts of older trees are usually larger. The petiole is stout and short, often shorter than half the width of the blade. The petiole and the midrib are a pale-yellow contrasting noticeably with the green of the leaf blade. The tree produces no visible flowers. Instead, flowers are contained inside a hollow receptacle known as a fig. Within the cavity is a large number of minute male and female flowers. Pollination is dependent on wasps which spend almost their entire life within the cavity of the inflorescences. The fig functions as a wasp nursery and the wasps are dependent on the fig for food and shelter, but they are also responsible for seed set in this mutually beneficial relation. After pollination, each flower inside the fig produces a tiny fruit containing seeds. The figs are about 3/4 inches in diameter at maturity. As it enlarges to maturity it changes color from green to red, burgundy, or purple. A useful field characteristic of the strangler fig is the abundant milky white latex which oozes from cut surfaces. The latex is present in un-ripened figs and dissipates in the mature fruit.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) t_kok, all rights reserved
2. (c) t_kok, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• African Plants - a photo guide
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• Catalogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia
• eFloras.org
• Flora of North America (beta)
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
• IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• SEINet Symbiota portals
• Tropicos
• USDA PLANTS database
• World Flora Online

Range Map

(c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)

iNat Map