epiphyte

[ ep-uh-fahyt ]

noun

, Botany.

1. a plant that grows above the ground, supported nonparasitically by another plant or object, and deriving its nutrients and water from rain, the air, dust, etc.; air plant; aerophyte.

epiphyte

/ ˈɛpɪˌfaɪt; ˌɛpɪˈfɪtɪk /

noun

1. a plant that grows on another plant but is not parasitic on it

epiphyte

/ ĕp′ə-fīt′ /

1. A plant that grows on another plant and depends on it for support but not food. Epiphytes get moisture and nutrients from the air or from small pools of water that collect on the host plant. Spanish moss and many orchids are epiphytes.
2. Also called aerophyte air plant

Derived Forms

• epiphytic, adjective
• ˌepiˈphytically, adverb

Other Words From

• ep·i·phyt·ic [ep-, uh, -, fit, -ik], epi·phyti·cal adjective
• epi·phyti·cal·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of epiphyte¹

First recorded in 1840–50; epi- + -phyte

Example Sentences

Any fig that begins life as an epiphyte is called a banyan, technically part of the subgenus Urostigma, and includes the well-known strangler figs.

From Nautilus

This unique beginning means stranglers literally start life as an epiphyte with adequate light, eventually sending down roots to absorb water and nutrients below.

From Nautilus

Spicer points out, however, that a sharing of water and nutrients also occurs among other epiphytes.

From Science News For Students

“The epiphyte lifestyle certainly facilitates group living, and group living is where all social stories start,” says Brian Whyte, an evolutionary biologist at the University of California, Berkeley also not involved with this research.

From Science News

But the drawing-room epiphyte is nothing if she is not young—which is synonymous with power to interest and amuse.

From Project Gutenberg

Aërides, Saccolabiums, and Vandas seem to be exceptions, as they represent the highest development of the epiphyte.

From Project Gutenberg

Here and there a splash of white or crimson marked the blooming of some trailing epiphyte.

From Project Gutenberg

This epiphyte, too, is very different in structure from wheat-rust.

From Project Gutenberg

One is purely an epiphyte, growing attached to a tree like many of the orchids.

From Project Gutenberg