epiphyte
noun/ˈɛpɪfɑɪt/
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”).
1
Biology, Botany, Natural sciences A plant that grows on another, using it for physical support but obtaining no nutrients from it and neither causing damage nor offering benefit.
- 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.1848, John Lindley, A notice of some species of Rhododendron inhabiting Borneo: Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society, volume 3, page 88:
- The nature of the surface of a plant also determines the number and sort of Epiphytes which lodge on it.1893, Natural Science: A Monthly Review of Scientific Progress, volume 3, page 185:
2
Biology, Natural sciences 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.)
- Derived terms
- cistern epiphyte, epiphytic, epiphytal, epiphytous, epiphytism, epiphytize, epiphytotic, hemiepiphyte, holoepiphyte, microepiphyte, semiepiphyte