374 IN LOWER FLORIDA WILDS 



have become established on our shores. On the 

 other hand life which had no doubt previously 

 migrated to the lower end of our State from the 

 northward met that from the tropics and a battle 

 royal for a place and food began and has ever since 

 been waged with never-ceasing relentlessness. 



We have two species of Ficus in Lower Florida, 

 both of which have somewhat similar habits, but 

 one of them, Ficus aurea, quite commonly begins 

 life as an epiphyte, while the other, Ficus brevifolta, 

 usually grows throughout its life in the ground. 

 They belong to a family which is abundant in the 

 tropics of the old and new worlds, and containing 

 a number of species that live on other trees and 

 choke them to death, hence they are called 

 "stranglers." The floor of the hammocks or 

 tropical forests is a dark place, where even at 

 noontime of the brightest day there is but a 

 limited amount of light. If the seeds of the Ficus 

 fell upon it they would doubtless germinate on 

 account of the heat and moisture, but in the dim, 

 crowded forest they would stand little chance of 

 ever becoming trees. So the strangling figs resort 

 to a cunning trick. Their fruits are eagerly de- 

 voured by birds and when they alight on the branch 



