epiphyte
English
Epiphytes on a tree branch
Etymology
From Ancient Greek ἐπιφύτον (epiphúton, “one [plant] that grows upon another plant”), from ἐπί (epí, “on top of”) + φυτόν (phutón, “plant”), via epi- (“above, over”) + -phyte (“plant”).
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /ˈɛpɪfɑɪt/
Noun
epiphyte (plural epiphytes)
- (botany) A plant that grows on another, using it for physical support but obtaining no nutrients from it and neither causing damage nor offering benefit; an air plant.
- 1848, John Lindley, A notice of some species of Rhododendron inhabiting Borneo, Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society, Volume 3, page 88,
- It has been suggested to me that these fine plants will not prove cultivable, because they are epiphytes. […] The probability however is, that they do not require to be treated as epiphytes, and that, like orchids, they will grow better if committed judiciously to the earth.
- 1893, Natural Science: A Monthly Review of Scientific Progress, Volume 3, page 185,
- The nature of the surface of a plant also determines the number and sort of Epiphytes which lodge on it.
- 1848, John Lindley, A notice of some species of Rhododendron inhabiting Borneo, Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society, Volume 3, page 88,
- (biology) A fungus that grows on a plant but does not feed upon it saprotrophically (an epiphytic fungus); the science of detecting and studying any such symbiosis as may be involved in this relationship is still developing.
Hypernyms
- epibiont
Coordinate terms
- epizoon
Derived terms
- epiphytic
- epiphytism
- epiphytize
- semiepiphyte
Related terms
- saprophyte
Translations
plant that grows on another
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