Strangler Fig (aka Watkin's Fig)

Description:

The Strangler Fig is a hemiepiphytic fig that is endemic to Australia and belongs to the mulberry and fig family Moraceae. This is only a very young specimen and just starting out. It's habit is strangling another tree, quite literally, and you can see here that it has a firm and fatal hold on its host (species unk). The first three photos show clearly the trunk of the fig has settled in the fork of the host's twin trunks. Given time, it will become a forest giant. Here are a couple of my other spottings of large and unusual strangler figs - https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/49... and https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/15...

Habitat:

Found on the Gold Creek walking trail at Gold Creek Reservoir, which lies just to the west of Brisbane. Freshwater lake and dense native bushland vegetation of dry eucalypt forests and subtropical rainforests. Heavily-shades area due to large eucalypt species like blue, grey and red gums, plus several large figs.