Epiphytes: Fascinating Plants that Live on Other Plants

Meet Amanda Rose Newton, an expert in pest control who serves as a reviewer for The Spruce’s Cleaning Review Board. Her qualifications include being a board-certified entomologist and volunteering for the USAIDs Farmer to Farmer program. On top of that, she is also a professor of Horticulture and an Education Specialist with a focus on pest management. Be sure to check out The Spruce’s Review Board to learn more about their team!

Epiphytes are a diverse group of plants that grow on other plants or natural structures for support. They are found mostly in tropical regions but can be found around the world. Unlike parasitic plants, they do not harm their host plants and instead use them for physical support. They have adapted to take up moisture from rainfall, humid air, dew, and host plant surfaces, as well as capture nutrients from environmental debris and symbiotic relationships with bacteria and fungi. Epiphytes come in many forms, including ferns, mosses, bromeliads, tillandsias, lichens, liverworts, and orchids. Orchids, in particular, are the largest group of epiphytes with close to 14,000 species. Bromeliads are also popular epiphytic plants. Caring for epiphytes requires understanding their native habitat and providing adequate growing conditions such as filtered or indirect light, a loose potting medium, and consistent fertilizing.