1. A plant that grows on another plant (usually a tree) without harming it, obtaining moisture and nutrients from the air and rain rather than from soil.
Usage: Common in tropical and subtropical forests; Botanical term

Examples

• Orchids are popular epiphytes that thrive in rainforest canopies.
• The oak tree was covered with mosses and lichens, which are epiphytes.
• Bromeliads are epiphytes native to Central and South America.
• Unlike parasites, epiphytes do not feed on their host plant.
• Many ferns grow as epiphytes on the branches of larger trees.
• The humid climate of the greenhouse is ideal for growing epiphytes.