Editing Strangler fig (section)

==Species==
Some of the more well-known species are:
* ''[[Ficus altissima]]'' – southern China and tropical Asia
* ''[[Ficus aurea]]'' – Florida, the Caribbean and Central America
* ''[[Ficus benghalensis]]'' – Indian subcontinent
* ''[[Ficus benjamina]]'' – tropical and subtropical Asia to northern Australia
* ''[[Ficus burtt-davyi]]'' – southeastern Africa
* ''[[Ficus citrifolia]]'' – Florida and tropical America
* ''[[Ficus craterostoma]]'' – tropical and southern Africa
* ''[[Ficus henneana]]'' – northern and eastern Australia
* ''[[Ficus macrophylla]]'' – eastern Australia and [[Lord Howe Island]]
* ''[[Ficus microcarpa]]'' - southeast Asia to Australia
* ''[[Ficus obliqua]]'' – [[Maluku Islands]], [[Papuasia]], northern Australia and southwestern Pacific
* ''[[Ficus tinctoria]]'' – Indian subcontinent and southern China to northern Australia and southwestern Pacific
* ''[[Ficus virens]]'' – tropical and subtropical Asia to northern Australia and western Pacific
* ''[[Ficus watkinsiana]]'' – eastern Australia

These all share a common "strangling" growth habit that is found in many tropical forest species.<ref>Zhekun, Zhou & Michael G. Gilbert (2003) "Flora of China" (Moraceae) 5: 21–73. [http://hua.huh.harvard.edu/china/mss/volume05/Moraceae.pdf hua.huh.harvard.edu] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060901100148/http://hua.huh.harvard.edu/china/mss/volume05/Moraceae.pdf |date=2006-09-01 }}</ref>{{Failed verification|reason=The source does not discuss the definition of the strangling habit, nor its prevalence |date=October 2024}} This growth habit is an adaptation for growing in dark forests where the competition for light is intense. These plants are [[hemiepiphyte]]s, spending the first part of their life without rooting into the ground. Their seeds, often bird-dispersed, germinate in crevices atop other trees. These seedlings grow their roots downward and envelop the host tree while also growing upward to reach into the sunlight zone above the canopy.<ref>Serventy, V. (1984). ''Australian Native Plants''. Victoria: Reed Books.</ref><ref>"Light in the rainforest" 1992 Tropical topics. Vol 1 No. 5, [http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/register/p00820ar.pdf epa.qld.gov.au] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070701035940/http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/register/p00820ar.pdf |date=2007-07-01 }}</ref>

An original support tree can sometimes die, so that the strangler fig becomes a "columnar tree" with a hollow central core.<ref name="LowmanRinker2004">{{cite book|author1=Margaret Lowman|author2=H. Bruce Rinker|title=Forest Canopies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F471I0uJv-8C&pg=PA180|year=2004|publisher=Academic Press|isbn=978-0-12-457553-0|pages=180–}}</ref>  However, it is also believed that the strangler fig can help its support tree survive storms.<ref name="RichardHalkin2017">{{cite journal |last1=Richard |first1=Leora. |last2=Halkin |first2=Sylvia |date=June 2017 |title= Strangler figs may support their host trees during severe storms |journal=Symbiosis |volume=72 |issue=2 |pages=153–157 |doi=10.1007/s13199-017-0484-5|s2cid=29202538 }}</ref>