Cathedral Fig Tree

.. we stopped at the Cathedral Fig Tree just for a bit of a detour and it was a great improvement decision!

This tree is 500 years old!
It’s a strangler fig and begins its life as a seed that is dropped onto the canopy of a tree by a bay or a bird and starts to grow its roots down from the top of the tree, getting its nutrients from the host it has landed on. Eventually the roots reach the ground and it begins to grow around, fully immersing the host tree until it kills it, leaving a hollow gap where the host once was.

Sounds morbid but they are incredibly intricate networks hosting a whole world of animals, birds and insects!

I was suuuuper tempted to climb the tree, it had foot holds all the way up with the way it had grown.

When you look to the canopy of the tree you can see islands of earth and plants that have grown up there and I imagine these have become a haven for small mammals and birds to nest upon!

I would love to see an areal video of this amazing tree!!Read more