epiphyte

Most epiphytes, or air plants, don’t sink their roots into soil to absorb moisture and nutrients, Lara explained.

Nadkarni's latest paper reviews the available science on epiphyte communities and categorizes the drivers and consequences of and societal responses to drought, wind, insects, wildfire, logging and other disturbances.

Younger trees’ trunk diameter increases quickly during periods of rapid growth, so the epiphytes are still present but spread out and less obvious.

The color ranges from gray violet to maroon and cinnamon, hues often overtaken by the bright chartreuse of mosses and other epiphytes.

The Bulbophyllum phalaenopsis is an epiphyte - a plant that grows on another plant but gets its own nutrients from the surrounding air and rainwater.