(botany) A plant that grows on another, using it for physical support but obtaining no nutrients from it and neither causing damage nor offering benefit; an air plant.
Used in a Sentence
epiphytes
Definitions, parts of speech, synonyms, and sentence examples for epiphytes.
Editorial note
As troublesome as Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus can be, some of their epiphytes are just terrible.
Examples5
Definitions2
Parts of speech1
Quick take
(botany) A plant that grows on another, using it for physical support but obtaining no nutrients from it and neither causing damage nor offering benefit; an air plant.
Meaning at a glance
The clearest senses and uses of epiphytes gathered in one view.
(biology) 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.)
Definitions
Core meanings and parts of speech for epiphytes.
noun
(botany) A plant that grows on another, using it for physical support but obtaining no nutrients from it and neither causing damage nor offering benefit; an air plant.
noun
(biology) 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.)
Example sentences
As troublesome as Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus can be, some of their epiphytes are just terrible.
Some of it comes from epiphytes like moss, higher up in the canopy.
Vines and creepers are not epiphytes, because they have conventional roots in the same soil as the larger plant (or other structure) that they cling to.
I would call those companies epiphytes [0], not 'parasites', which is untrue and pejorative.
We are far from the sea here, in the mountains of inland Portugal, but here too walls are unbelievable havens for biodiversity - old stone walls here will one one side harbour a plethora of mosses, liverworts, sedums and similar, and on the other, ferns and epiphytes.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers drawn from the clearest meanings and examples for this word.
How do you use epiphytes in a sentence?
As troublesome as Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus can be, some of their epiphytes are just terrible.
What does epiphytes mean?
(botany) A plant that grows on another, using it for physical support but obtaining no nutrients from it and neither causing damage nor offering benefit; an air plant.
What part of speech is epiphytes?
epiphytes is commonly used as noun.