By Vladimir Brezina
This week’s Photo Challenge is Growth.
The Strangler Fig.
From the Encyclopaedia Britannica:
…Beginning life as a sticky seed left on a high tree branch by an animal such as a bird, bat, or monkey, the young strangler lives on the tree’s surface… As it grows, long roots develop and descend along the trunk of the host tree, eventually reaching the ground and entering the soil. Several roots usually do this, and they become grafted together, enclosing their host’s trunk in a strangling latticework, ultimately creating a nearly complete sheath around the trunk. The host tree’s canopy becomes shaded by the thick fig foliage, its trunk constricted by the surrounding root sheath, and its own root system forced to compete with that of the strangling fig. This process can kill the host; if not, the host tree, being much older than the strangler, still dies eventually and rots away and a magnificent fig “tree” is left behind whose apparent “trunk” is actually a gigantic cylinder of roots.
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Here and here are two more responses to the challenge.
Other nice interpretations of “Growth”:
- A Word in Your Ear
- Cee’s Life Photography Blog
- Old Woman on a Bicycle
- Zack Hunter
- Stephen Kelly Creative
- The Thirdeyeworld
- StandingStill
- Travels and Trifles
- e-Shibin
- eagerexplorer
- Birds n bugs’s Blog
- Ink
- The Wanderlust Gene
- Beyond the Brush
- City Life Picture
- Zeebra Designs & Destinations
- Have you ever…
- Lost in Translation
- ArtBea
- follow your nose
- Even A Girl Like Me
- A Meditative Journey With Saldage
- A Little Art
- Everything Happens for a Reason
- The (Urban-Wildlife) Interface
- Douglas G. Stinson Photography
- ChristaToTheMax
- iiteeeestudents
- Sébastien Ouvry Photographies
- You Just Love
- Mike’s Take
Vladimir Brezina (RIP) 
Johna Till Johnson
Wind Against Current 
What a creepy idea, and yet beauty results….
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They often go hand-in-hand…
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I love the stranglers! z
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:-)
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Pingback: Weekly Photo Challenge: Growth, Take Two | Wind Against Current
Pingback: Weekly Photo Challenge: Growth, Take Three | Wind Against Current
Double thanks! I admire you for how well you juggle an interesting life, great photos, equally-great writing, and still have time for acknowledging others! You definitely get a cheerleading award! Z
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Unfortunately, there really isn’t enough time for everything, so some things do get pushed onto the back burner—and stay there if I am not careful. But thank you for the cheerleading award, Z! :-)
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Wow – I had no idea – sort of lhe plant version of the bird species that lay their eggs in other birds’ nests! Great post and photo!
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Cuckoo… Yes, very much so! Lots of animals and plants do it—it’s just easier to steal than do everything oneself!
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I’ve learned something new :) Thank you.
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You are most welcome, Paula!
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P.S. what a funny coincidence .. I am having a few figs right now :D
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:-) Yes, it’s amazing that it’s a very closely related tree…
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I’m afraid I can’t see the picture.
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Sorry about that! it seems that most people can see it, however… so it’s probably a browser issue. I’ve had times when I couldn’t see my own pictures, or those on anyone else’s blog, until I restarted my browser, which was essentially choking on all the material cached over the preceding several days…
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Actually, it was me screwing up this time. There were two copies of the photo and I deleted the wrong one… Thanks for pointing it out!
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great post
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Thanks, Amar!
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Thanks for the credit and compliment!! I like how you did the ping-back thing! I might try to emulate that idea, if you don’t mind. The whole blog world seems to have such a positive community, I am really enjoying it. The real world could use it as a guide! ;-)
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Go ahead and try the pingback thing! Unfortunately (at least in our theme) it has to be done manually…
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Pingback: Weekly Photo Challenge – Growth | Just Snaps
Pingback: Weekly Photo Challenge – Growth | Chittle Chattle
Thanks for the mention! Great entry too! :)
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You are most welcome, and thank you!
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Very interesting plant… ;-)
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It is indeed… :-)
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Pingback: Weekly Photo Challenge: Growth « Jacqueline's Blog
Pingback: Weekly Photo Challenge: “Growth” « MKG- Memories-Keepsakes-Gifts
Thank you very much for the mention! :D
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You are most welcome! :-)
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The roots on this tree are massive. This is perfect for the growth challenge. You seem to have lots of interesting pix’s and an outstanding photographic eye.Fabulous ….!!!!
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I have a lot of photos of some things (e.g., kayaking) but not so many of others, so some challenges are, well, challenging ;-) But I usually manage to think of something…
This tree was actually a baby, as banyan trees go. They can be really massive!
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I thought t was a Banyan but didn’t want to say that. We have them here in Florida. There is a massive one at the Thomas Edison musem. It has been there forever. When he was alive he built things around it in order to preserve it. Such a GREAT conservationist to do that. It was hard to tell in the photo if it was a young tree but then again that’s what makes a GREAT photographer. You capture the viewers eye of illusion. Keep up the great pix’s taking.
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:-) In fact, this one was in Florida, in your part of it even, it sounds like! It was one of a number of these trees growing on the grounds of the Sanibel Harbour Marriott Resort in Fort Myers. And we did intend to visit the Edison tree but never got around to it… next time!
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Very interesting facts! I love the morbidness of it all with the fight to survive and the whole circle of life. Thanks for the mention, also!
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Some plants, and animals, do lead very messy lives… ;-)
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sweet thanks so much!
Aloha
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Thank you for visiting!
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The strangler fig is my fav!
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Glad you like it!
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