A strangler fig starts life as a houseguest, then becomes its host's coffin
A strangler fig's seed usually germinates high in a tree fork after a bird drops it there. Its roots grow down around the host's trunk, fusing into a woody lattice, while its crown shades out the host's own leaves. Decades later the original tree rots away completely, leaving the fig standing alone: a hollow, free-standing tree built from the skin of another species.