Tree roots and ruins

Ta Prohm HDR, originally uploaded by Cap'n Surly.

I'm not sure what is more impressive the ancient ruins or the tangled web of tree roots.

The Rock Splitting Cherry Tree

The Rock Splitting Cherry Tree, originally uploaded by ihorner.

It is quite amazing what tree roots can do. This 400 year old Cherry tree in Morioka, Japan is famous for the fact that it has split a large granite boulder in two with its roots.

Buttress roots of a Big tree

Big tree 3, originally uploaded by allspice1.

This is an example of some very large buttress roots. I can't tell from the picture what kind of tree this is but there are a number of tropical tree species that have buttress roots like these.

Banyan tree at Haleakala National Park

Maui - The Road to Hana - return journey, originally uploaded by Gypsy and The Fool.

An interesting feature of the Banyan tree is that it drops roots down from its branches that become additional trunks that serve to support the weight of the branches. This in turn allows the tree to spread out over a rather large area. There are several different species from the Ficus genus that are commonly called Banyan although the true Banyan tree is the Ficus benghalensis.

Enchanted Forest

Palermo - Ficus Magnoliodes, originally uploaded by lorca56.

Can you imagine walking through this forest?

These trees give you the feeling like they could reach out and grab you at any moment.

Or purhaps they would lull you to sleep first with their deep, soft earth tunes and then while you sleep their roots would gradually creep over you.

You would not want to be trying to find you way through this mass of trunks and roots on a dark night!