Giant strangler trees

Description:

Young strangler lives on the tree’s surface, grows long roots, and descends along the trunk of the host tree. Eventually they reach the ground, enter the soil and get a firm hold. As several roots go through this process they get grafted together, enclosing their host’s trunk in a strangling latticework. Ultimately they create a complete sheath around the trunk. Two other varieties of trees too took firm root here, the Silk Cotton tree (Ceiba pentandra) and Thitpok tree (Tetrameles nudiflora). They are common in tropical forests throughout the world. Birds and bats propagate these seeds which are sticky in nature.

Habitat:

One factor that has enhanced the growth of the trees here is the unique property of the stones used for building the temples. Angkor temples are made of sandstone/laterite which is porous in nature. This enables the roots to extract water from the stones. The roots play the role of crushing the structure and sometimes holding the structure up too Covering an old temple grounds, only re-discovered in the early 20th century.