Nicolas Grevet  •  Photography

A young Banyan tree is visible on the makai (ocean) side of the Pipiwai Trail in the Haleakalā National Park in Maui, Hawaii. The Banyan seeds often fall on the branches and stems of other trees or on human edifices, and when they germinate they grow roots down toward the ground and consequently may envelop part of the host tree or edifice. For this reason Banyans bear the colloquial name "strangler fig".