An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phorophytes. Epiphytes take part in nutrient cycles and add to both the diversity and biomass of the ecosystem in which they occur, like any other organism. They are an important source of food for many species. Typically, the older parts of a plant will have more epiphytes growing on them. Epiphytes differ from parasites in that they grow on other plants for physical support and do not necessarily affect the host negatively. An organism that grows on another organism that is not a plant may be called an epibiont. Epiphytes are usually found in the temperate zone or in the tropics. Epiphyte species make good houseplants due to their minimal water and soil requirements. Epiphytes provide a rich and diverse habitat for other organisms including animals, fungi, bacteria, and myxomycetes.
The Bromeliaceae are a family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, Pitcairnia feliciana.
Spanish moss is an epiphytic flowering plant that often grows upon large trees in tropical and subtropical climates. It is native to much of Mexico, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Central America, South America, the Southern United States, and West Indies. It has been naturalized in Queensland (Australia). It is known as "grandpa's beard" in French Polynesia.
Tillandsia is a genus of around 650 species of evergreen, perennial flowering plants in the family Bromeliaceae, native to the forests, mountains and deserts of the Neotropics, from northern Mexico and the southeastern United States to Mesoamerica and the Caribbean to central Argentina. Their leaves, more or less silvery in color, are covered with specialized cells (trichomes) capable of rapidly absorbing water that gathers on them.
Aerial roots are roots above the ground. They are almost always adventitious. They are found in diverse plant species, including epiphytes such as orchids (Orchidaceae), tropical coastal swamp trees such as mangroves, banyan figs, the warm-temperate rainforest rata, and pohutukawa trees of New Zealand. Vines such as common ivy and poison ivy also have aerial roots.
Catopsis berteroniana, commonly known as the powdery strap airplant or the lantern of the forest, is an epiphytic bromeliad thought to be a possible carnivorous plant, similar to Brocchinia reducta, although the evidence is equivocal. Its native range is from southern Florida to southern Brazil. It generally grows on the unshaded twigs of trees, and has been shown experimentally to trap more insects in its tank than other bromeliads of comparable size. There are several other species in the genus, none of which is believed to be carnivorous.
Phoradendron is a genus of mistletoe, native to warm temperate and tropical regions of the Americas. The center of diversity is the Amazon rainforest. Phoradendron is the largest genus of mistletoe in the Americas, and possibly the largest genus of mistletoes in the world. Traditionally, the genus has been placed in the family Viscaceae, but recent genetic research acknowledged by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group shows this family to be correctly placed within a larger circumscription of the sandalwood family, Santalaceae.
Tillandsioideae is a subfamily of plants in the bromeliad family Bromeliaceae. This subfamily contains the greatest number of species. Most are epiphytic or lithophytic, growing in trees or on rocks where they absorb water and nutrients from the air. Spanish moss of the genus Tillandsia is a well-known species. Bromeliads in the genera Guzmania and Vriesea are the more commonly cultivated members of this subfamily.
Ebenopsis ebano is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, that is native to the coastal plain of southern Texas in the United States and eastern Mexico. It is commonly known as Texas ebony or ebano.
Tillandsia balbisiana, common name northern needleleaf, is a species of bromeliad in the genus Tillandsia. This species in native to Mexico, Central America, Colombia, Venezuela, the West Indies, and Florida.
Tillandsia erubescens is a species of epiphytic plants of the genus Tillandsia. This species is endemic to Mexico, found over much of the country from Chihuahua to Oaxaca.
Tillandsia violacea is a species of epiphytic flowering plant in the family Bromeliaceae. It is endemic to Mexico, particularly to the Central Mexican Plateau. This species' habitat is at elevations between 600 and 3,100 meters, and is epiphytic to large trees in humid temperate forests, primarily the species Abies religiosa, Quercus rugosa, and Quercus laurina. In particular, it is a common epiphyte of the temperate pine forests of Hidalgo state, including El Chico National Park. Its range extends to the states of Guerrero, Jalisco, state of Mexico, Michoacán, Morelos, Oaxaca, and Veracruz. Due to its high-elevation habitat, this bromeliad species has tolerance to sub-freezing conditions.
Tillandsia festucoides, commonly known as the fescue airplant, is a species of bromeliad that is native to the Greater Antilles, Mexico, the Cayman Islands, and Central America.
Tillandsia flexuosa, the twisted airplant, is a species of bromeliad in the genus Tillandsia. This species is native to Central America, southeastern Mexico, northern South America and the United States (Florida).
Tillandsia paucifolia, the potbelly airplant, is a species of bromeliad in the genus Tillandsia. This species is native to Central America, central and southern Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, the West Indies, and Florida.
Tillandsia schiedeana is a species of flowering plant in the genus Tillandsia. It was named for the collector Christian Julius Wilhelm Schiede. As an epiphyte it is found "growing in open tropical forests, and saxicolous, growing on cacti and burseras on steep dry slopes in semiarid regions in Mexico, Central America, West Indies, Venezuela, and Colombia at elevations of 750 to 5,500 feet."
Tillandsia utriculata, commonly known as the spreading airplant, the giant airplant, or wild pine is a species of bromeliad that is native to Florida and Georgia in the United States, the Caribbean, southern and eastern Mexico, Central America, and Venezuela.
Tillandsia variabilis, the leatherleaf airplant, is a species of bromeliad in the genus Tillandsia. This species is native to Bolivia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, the West Indies and southern Florida.
Tillandsia baileyi, commonly known as the reflexed airplant or Bailey's ball moss, is a species of bromeliad that is native to southern Texas in the United States and Tamaulipas in Mexico. It is found along the Gulf of Mexico from Kingsville, Texas to Tampico, Tamaulipas. Preferred host plants for this epiphyte include Southern live oak and Texas ebony.
An ant garden is a mutualistic interaction between certain species of arboreal ants and various epiphytic plants. It is a structure made in the tree canopy by the ants that is filled with debris and other organic matter in which epiphytes grow. The ants benefit from this arrangement by having a stable framework on which to build their nest while the plants benefit by obtaining nutrients from the soil and from the moisture retained there.
