The huge, stilt-rooted Strangler Fig (Coussapoa trinerva). A member of the Moraceae family, which includes the true figs (Ficus spp.) and their relatives. Strangler Figs start life as epiphytes high up on some tree, but eventually send numerous roots to the ground. As these roots grow and thicken the original host tree is killed by strangulation. With maturity, the branches send down numerous hanging roots which eventually develop into secondary trunks. Multi-trunked, stilt-rooted stranglers such as this are frequently referred to as Banyans, but that name is best reserved for old world species. Photographed off the Rio Orosa in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon.