Sabal and massive strangler fig

[Yunder Wækraus]

This is one of the most massive strangler figs I've seen this far north.

[Cape Garrett]

6 minutes ago, Yunder Wækraus said:

This is one of the most massive strangler figs I've seen this far north.

Never knew they grew that far north.  All over down here.  The Sabal is doomed.

[Yunder Wækraus]

32 minutes ago, Cape Garrett said:

Never knew they grew that far north.  All over down here.  The Sabal is doomed.

I have come to believe these two trees are in a symbiotic relationship: the Sabal provides a nursery for the fig and, later, a structure around which the tree can grow; the fig attracts guano-making fruit eaters and, most importantly, the aerial roots of the fig eventually make the Sabal nearly hurricane proof. I have seen strangler figs on Sabals of great age, and I am not at all convinced that a strangler fig is guaranteed to kill a Sabal sooner than it would have otherwise died.

[Darold Petty]

Here is an example of Howea forsteriana,  enveloped by Ficus macrophylla f. columnaris, Troy Donovan for scale. (Tassie_Troy1971)

[Eric in Orlando]

That's a nice Ficus aurea. You can see decent sized ones all the way up into New Smyrna Beach in Volusia County. There is a huge one at the Polynesian Resort at Disney back in the luau area. Its encircles a Sabal palmetto and has been there since Disney opened in 1971.

[Yunder Wækraus]

6 hours ago, Darold Petty said:

Here is an example of Howea forsteriana,  enveloped by Ficus macrophylla f. columnaris, Troy Donovan for scale. (Tassie_Troy1971)

Wonderful!

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

Sabals are perfectly content to have their trunks encased inside a strangler fig and will not be "strangled".  BUT, strangler figs are fast and Sabals are slow.  What happens is that the sabals are out-competed for light and nutrients.  This particular sabal might have a chance being offset like it is, the sabal roots might do OK.

[Dave-Vero]

Ficus aurea tends to be whacked back by freezes.  They show up regularly.  A small one up in one of my Sabals was blown down by one of the 2004 hurricanes, and I just removed another young one from a bromeliad pot . . .