While travelling in Australia you may come upon some very unique and almost unworldly looking giant trees. These members of the fig family are something to behold.
These trees have an unusual start to life: most of the time they begin by growing on another tree.
This all starts when a bird eats a fig from a mature tree and then flies off to perch in the fork of another tree. Seeds in droppings left behind by the bird can germinate and produce a tiny plant growing in the fork. The roots almost completely envelope the base of the host tree and in most occasions the host tree dies and the fig becomes a new giant tree.
Nature is a wonderful things.
Scott
For more images and adventures - http://www.scottstevensonphotography.ca/