Question

What are epiphytes?

Answer 1

Hint: 1)An epiphyte is an organism that emerges from the air, rain, water (in aquatic environments) or from debris growing around it on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients.
2)Epiphytes take part in nitrogen cycles and contribute to both the richness and biomass of the ecosystem in which they exist, as any other organism.
3)These are an important source of food for several animals.

Complete answer:
Epiphytes are also known as “air plants'' because they are not grounded in the soil. These organisms occur on the surface of a plant and derive nutrients from the marine environments. They are commonly found in rainforests. An epibiont can be called an organism that grows on another non-plant organism. They are an important source of food for many species. Particularly, the older parts of a plant will have more epiphytes growing on them. Epiphytes differ from parasites because they grow on other plants for physical support however they do not depend for its nutrients on the host plant. Moreover, they do not affect the host plant unnecessarily. They are usually found in the tropic or temperate zone. These species contribute well as good bonsai plants due to their minimum soil and water requirement. They are one of the sources of providing rich and abundant habitat to our ecosystem. Epiphyte is a Greek word which is a combination of two words ‘epi’ means ‘upon’ and ‘python’ means ‘plant’. Epiphytes have many aquatic species of algae. They can be found in every major group of plant kingdom which includes mosses, orchids and bromeliads. Terrestrial are flowering plants with 24,000 species and leptosporangiate ferns is the second largest group with 2800 species followed by clubmosses with 190 species as the third largest group.

Note: 1)Epiphytes are generally found in tropical areas where their ability to expand above ground level provides access to sunshine in dense shaded forests.
2)They use the nutrients available from leaves and other organic debris gathered high in the canopy of the tree.
3)Their biological interaction is also known as commensalism.