How the fig tree strangles other plants for survival in the rainforest - David Attenborough - BBC wildlife

[icedogs0619]

is this from planet earth

[MrDrift9000]

David Attenborogh in 240P is almost offensive

[JaniceGhostHunter13]

Man, with the music they played I never felt so bad for a tree.

[kapykronik]

shitty Doc

[kennykiller911]

Dam nature, u scary

[thegreeensky]

looks really cool..

[BigGreezyJake]

fact is stranger than science fig-tion!!!

[sdfghjkertyu]

The full resources and capabilities of the BBC, and the best they can manage is this crap 240p video. Good job, guys.

[MegaChelonia]

Dun dun duuuuun!

killer tree

[TheNinjaRice]

6 people are host trees

[amiejhan]

what if a fig strangled another fig o:

[MarcusLKF001]

Fig armegeddon? 0.o

[AmphibiousReconMSOB]

she blinded me with science

[superchewy101]

No, I am actually being serious! How can there be *any* dislikes?

I love his voice

[IAINoodle]

dead tree trunks are not wasted.

[MrOrbotron]

Keep up the beautiful work, Attenborough.

[TubesteakNikka]

Now I know

[panamablanc73]

i need that psychopathic plant in my garden next to my Giant Sequoia.

[Sei1863]

YO.

That's a set from LOST!

[Sei1863]

Zombie trees.

[cusanusnicolas]

Sounds like my past choice of friends.

[aegisknox]

3:30, HOLY SH*T !, lmao... those are the roots LOL

[whamfan87]

My new drag queen name? Strangling Fig.

[y890x]

I LOVE YOU ATTENBOROUGH!!!

[andynaik]

I used to love watching these documentaries on Discovery Channel on a Sunday afternoon after having lunch and snuggling up in bed

[flossie1911]

This is the most interesting and my very favorite tree!!! ;o)

[backwoodsgps]

anti semetic or what?

hey, just asking!!

the great debate

for ever

and

[MrT0h]

No one can ever chop this tree down .

[dimseeeen]

dead tree trunks are not wasted... and?

[pianoman47]

@dimseeeen I want to see the rest too

[rabbitspliff]

@pianoman47 it's from the private life of plants. episode 4, the social struggle. get the 2 disc set on dvd, good price and shouldn't be too hard to come by. i'm watching it right now :D

[Xenophanessmith]

Figs always creeped me out... now I know why...

[Yukiko72809]

@Xenophanessmith Plus the flowers are on the inside of the fig fruit, which are pollinated by tiny wasps-- the female wasps leave after mating but the male wasps all die inside the fruit. Yum!

[CTHULU140259]

Yo lo ví en Australia, cerca de Atherton, Queensland. Es impresionante porque la higuera primero creció a expensas de un primer árbol huésped y al morir éste, se inclinó a otro árbol vecino y sus raíces quedaron como una "cortina". Es por eso que se conoce como "curtain fig tree". Sus raíces alcanzan una altura de 20 metros o más. Es impresionante.

[kleash]

nice, im gonna plant one at my neighbor's tree right away

[backwoodsgps]

a mercy killing??

[fredfar12]

i wonder how hard it is to climb that tree with bare hand...

[PDelta41]

@fredfar12 Quite easy, often enough. After all, what self-respecting homonid couldn't climb trees?

[NightOfTheComet84]

I know a few people like this. lol

[elweydeallado]

at the last one i was like : FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

[JeffDoogins]

otherwise known as the 'bastard plant'

[VioletBoyTV]

Whoa... Imagine camping with no tent and you go to sleep and once you wake up, you find tree roots strangling you O_o

[88iranazad]

i am skard

[transdrole]

If the fig is so aggressive why isn't it the only tree in the forest?

[matdej]

Maybe because it takes it rougly 300 years too strangle another tree?

[t0kes42o]

fig tree=gangster

[xenodude217]

Dead tree trunks are not wasted.

[systematichoneyy]

Those look like so much fun to climb!

[adoracle1]

I want to see the rest of that

[jsaulgodoy]

i know wtf?? me too... just a strip tease....

[adoracle1]

I assume "fig tree" means food source? if so, cool tree times two. You could just build [and reinforce] inside the hollows/cut passages to rooms and have a food source hanging over your head. I think they are a miracle if they produce food. What better tree to have such a capacity as that, than one that will take out a non fruiting tree and replace it with a fig store for hundreds of years...yup

[obeligz]

could we manipulate trees to grow into houses for us to live in? (group of?)Big hollow tree could house a large family. What if biology and technology fuse toghether to investigate how a house can be grown from scratch in say 50, or 200 years, and last for 2000? Which ape will be the lucky monkey to live or work in the tallest tree in our civilization?

A tree house may not be a sky scraper, but it is mostly biodegradable, and it offers it´s own AI and Bio-microfauna giving a mre divers exprienz

[BaNaNahOoYoO]

you've got to love that man's voice.

oh attenborough, don't die.

[poknatcmat]

welll...as long fig trees provide shelters for the birds and other living things in the jungle..that's alright w/ me.

[pachmishali]

I love rainforest & its resources .

[RileyWG]

you could probably climb up th middle of a hollow one (you'd meet a few little crawly animals), but the time-lapse's of the fig's roots growing make it seem like it could wrap you up in only a few minutes and strangle you death.

[crystalblue63]

I did once with a friend in a queensland. The strangler fig had killed the tallest tree in that part of the rainforest and it towered above the rest like a natural skyscraper in a perfect ladder. It was easy to climb but we used rope and harnesses in case we fell because it was a longgg way down.

[BestFruitNow]

very cool.

[powback]

bit strong to call a tree a murderer david....

[Astra2012]

I don't know... murderer is the one who kills? Sure, survival is a good cause, still that fig tree kills others.

So maybe murderer is the one who kills for other reasons? Philosopher anyone?

[Chronobeanz]

Philosopher here!

Murderer implies immorality. If you view the killing of another plant for survival (bearing in mind that it is the chosen method for the fig tree (also bearing in mind that this is how the fig tree evolved/was divinely created)) as an immoral act then yes the fig tree is a murderer. If not then its just a killer.

[Taveren22]

"MURDER? We ALL murder. You call it industry".

Natural Born Killers

[ny777thai]

interesting stuff

[powback]

surely just easier to grow a trunk of ur own tho...

[Egghed545]

that was scary as hell

[sickntwisteddemond]

ha fuckin bully as fig tree,you kick ass!

[nirvana19791979]

rofl

[iceboy219]

why is being a bully appealing?

[cool70200]

wow, killer fig tree, talk about science fiction in nature :P

[jasenandstuff]

huh?

[leonoobie]

its the work of nature, like predator and prey

[19weewee84]

god planned it for the homes of many creatures living in the forest..its a free apartment for nesting.

[theREALshafan]

do you actually have evidence that animals nest inside the hollow, or are you just saying that?

do you have any credentials in botany/biology? if not, then GTFO.

[senorhousemouse]

I hope one of these trees falls down when its host dies. The bastards deserve it.

[arunoaj]

lol

[margot980]

My cats don't kill birds and my fig tree is big but benign. This is the time of year that I prune it a bit and put the twigs in a bucket with some water so they can root. Then neighbours can walk by and take home their own future fig trees, fruit in 3 years.

Where is this video filmed?

[prettypinkcupcakes55]

lucky you can give away free fig trees. =D

i think this was filmed in the Amazon or something

[figfewdisgewd]

strangler figs:the snake of plants!

[kaferere]

That explains everything, my wife's a strangler fig.

[figfewdisgewd]

haha!

[jerrylee483]

wow if trees were political them strangler trees would be republicans ty for the posting that good job

[setemi]

Wow! Big trees beware small trees can takeover your life hmm...

[edsongoa]

strangler fig has never been captured so well before. Hats of to david & his crew.

[BlueToronto]

Mur-diddly-derer!

[bathtubshitter]

does he mention where these fig trees live? I wanna know!! {so I can warn all the trees that I hang with]

[TheKraig]

That's evolution for ya. ;)

[noventar]

holy crap! 500 years old and still growing!! reminds me of vampires

[Ulevaogredline]

i thiked at it too

[Tsaphiel]

I'm sorry... what?

[mooxim]

wow, some of the plants attenborough's crew shot for this series were really sinister, but immensely cool.

[r25limousine]

I love this serries, BBC please upload more!! I pay my license fee, I am happy to do so for this kind of quality!

[Saltylicious]

Talk about bad neighbors

[eXisteneZ]

lol

[Exedust]

fascinating O_o!