THE CUPEY TREE.

Western Star, Issue 2253, 4 November 1898, Page 7

THE CUPEY TREE.

The cupey, or, as it is sarcastically called in the English possessions, " the attorney," is one of the most curious as it is certainly the most picturesque denizen of the virgin forests of th« West Indian islands. It belongs to the parasitical family of trees or plants ; but, terrible to relate, it invariably, with the basest ingratitude, destroys all life in the unfortunate tree that cherishes it in its early growth. The seeds are borne on the wings •£ the wind, and deposited on the branches of other ttees, when they burst into roots,which are dropped towards the ground nil round the " nurse " treo. In time these roots reach the ground and strike into the soil. From this moment the roots grow stronger and stronger until they resemble a lot of rope ladders thrown over the tree. Next the parasite sends down a great cord, which twines round the trunk of the supporting tree, at Grst as though in loving embrace ; but it grows tighter and tighter, eventually strangling its benefactor out of existence. The " nurse " tree thus killed rots to decay.and from the immense fibrous roots of the destroyer now springs a great trunk, which rises high into the air. When the cupey is full grown, it presents a magnificent spectacle, for the cord-like roots often rise to fifty or sixty feet, and support in mid-air the vast tree itself.