Finca Luna Nueva - A Strangler Fig Parasite Taking Over A Tree
In the Costa Rican rainforests, you may commonly see extremely old trees that seem to have been consumed by a vine which is known as the Strangler Fig Parasite. This parasite comes when an infected bird poops on top of the tree. The parasite then forms vines that grow down the tree to the root system. Once at the tree’s roots, the parasite takes over and slowly kills the tree, but the vines are left in it’s place. The vines of the parasite become very large and very strong, almost tree like. This tree already has a termite nest in it to help the process along (notice the black area center right).

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