Champasak Banyan Roots

The strangling roots of the Banyan tree slowly eating away at the walls of the ancient ruins of the Khmer temple of Wat Phu in Champasak, Laos.
The Banyan tree or Ficus Benghalensis is a rapidly growing tree that can reach huge proportions. From a small seed that can easily take hold in a crevice of a wall, it germinates and sends out aerial roots to the ground or into the building for support and left untreated it takes over,smothering and eventually destroying its host. And this is why it is also known by the popular name of Strangler Fig.