532 NATURAL SCIENCE. s^p,,. 



theless, these climbers are preparing for a struggle in which the 

 apparently weak will overcome the strongest monarch of the forest. 

 If the seed has germinated in a suitable fork, its aerial roots flow 

 down on every side, like narrow streams of green pitch, accommo- 

 dating themselves to every irregularity, and only stopping when they 

 reach the earth, and push their roots into the rich mould. Then the 

 little plant becomes a large shrub, day by day increasing in strength, 

 until, by its dense shadow, it kills every epiphyte in its neighbour- 

 hood. Then the aerial roots enlarge until they resemble monster 

 pythons hanging downwards instead of coiling round the tree, which 

 now begins to feel the power of its enemy. From every clinging 

 root side-roots are developed, which unite until, in some places, the 

 whole trunk is encircled. 



In forest trees the seat of life is just inside the bark, where, as 

 is well-known, the growth of a season is shown by a ring of new 

 wood. Such trees can be killed by ringing the bark with an axe, or 

 by constriction at the base, and it is by the latter process that the 

 clusia or fig performs its murderous work, x^s it becomes more 

 luxuriant and tightens its bands, the flow of sap is checked and the 

 leaves begin to fall off". This is greatly to the destroyer's advantage, 

 as it could not get enough light while every inch was occupied by the 

 canop}'^ of foliage. Unlike many epiphytes, it enjoys the blazing sun- 

 light and has developed all its powers to attain a position where this 

 may be secured. Its leaves are thick in texture, and even the flowers 

 of the clusia do not shrivel in the sun like those of most plants. 

 Few forest trees are so well fitted to endure the intense glare, none 

 look so strong and healthy under the influence of a cloudless sky, and 

 the consequent drought for two or three months. 



Leaf after leaf falls, until the tree becomes too weak to ripen 

 seeds and bears but few flowers ; soon nothing is left but bare twigs. 

 That it is struggling in the embrace of its enemy may be seen by the 

 way the bark swells between its interlacing bonds. Like an athlete 

 straining to break the cords which bind him, the tree tries to rid itself 

 of the living fetters. All its efforts are, however, as useless as those 

 of an ox in the python's coils. It almost seems as if the strangler 

 feels the powerful strain, as every now and again it draws another 

 band round its victim. Sometimes the whole trunk becomes covered 

 with a living pillar, only broken here and there by a few meshes, but 

 more generally the bonds are not so complete. In the former case, 

 death ensues very quickly ; in the latter, the tree may linger for years. 

 At times only a single limb is killed, after that a second, and so on, 

 as its foe increases in strength. If the latter be perched on a branch 

 overhanging a creek, the tree may escape without much harm, 

 as most of the aerial roots will descend straight without touching 

 the trunk. 



After the tree becomes bare death soon ensues, and then it 

 begins to break up. Twigs and branches fall by their own weight 



