Ficus sumatrana, fallen fruit and leaves collected from underneath the large strangler that grows right next to the path through the forest that leads from the Tomanggong Road to the Mud Volcano tower at Tabin Wildlife Reserve in Sabah.
in October 2010 this F. sumatrana fig was growing next to the mud volcano trail at Tabin. The photo shows that it has almost finished strangling the host tree and is now supporting itself. Alexander Lamb shows the scale.In this photo you can clearly see the original host trunk underneath the strangling roots which are beginning to link together (anastomozing).Another view of the same Ficus sumatrana strangler. On this side of the tree, the trunk of the original host has been completely surrounded by the anastomozing roots which blend into each other. Quentin Phillipps shows the scale.
Elephants frequently visit the mud volcano to eat the salty earth and may be watching you from a short distance away silently as you walk through the forest. If you see an elephant quietly back off and leave it in peace. Tourists who follow and disturb the elephants have been attacked and killed as happened to an unfortunate Australian girl at this spot.
