The Strangler Fig is a predator (hemiepyphyte). In Spanish it is known as matapalo - "killer tree".

Its seeds are deposited by bird droppings on the branch of a host tree. The fig then sends out roots through the air until they touch the ground. The strangler fig uses up all the host tree's water and nutrients and eventually kills it. When the host tree dies it leaves an enormous upright strangler with a hollow core.