What is Epiphyte?
[[Image:Epiphytes costa rica santa elena.jpg|200px|thumb|A number of different epiphytes on a tree in [[Costa Rica]]]] [[File:Tillandsia, Bromeliad epiphyte on Cycad.jpg|200px|thumb|Bromeliad on a [[Cycad]]]] [[Image:Epiphytes.jpg|right|thumb|200px|An example of an epiphyte assemblage of [[orchid]]s and [[bromeliad]]s in a garden setting in [[Hawaii]]]] [[File:Colostethus beebei.jpg|200px|thumb|Golden poison-dart frogs (''Colostethus beebei'') are small, [[Warning colouration|warning-coloured]] tree frogs that live their lives inside the cloud forest's [[bromeliad]]s.]] An '''epiphyte''' is a [[plant]] which grows on another [[plant]], without being a parasite. The term is also be used for [[bacteria]], [[fungi]], [[lichen]]s and [[moss]]es which grow on plants. However, most epiphytes (89%) are [[flowering plant]]s; and about a third of all [[fern]]s are epiphytes.<ref>Hogan, C Michael, 2010. [http://www.eoearth.org/article/Fern ''Fern''. Encyclopedia of Earth. National council for Science and the Environment]. Washington, DC</ref> An epiphyte gets its moisture and nutrients from the air and rain, and sometimes from debris accumulating around it. The ones in the temperate zone are often mosses, [[liverwort]]s, lichens and [[algae]], and in the tropics ferns, [[cacti]], [[orchid]]s, and [[bromeliad]]s. Sometimes such plants are called '''air plants''', because they do not [[root]] in [[soil]].<ref>''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language'', Unabridged. 1976. Vol. I, p764 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Chicago.</ref> This is misleading though, as there are many [[aquatic]] epiphytes as well. Epiphytic organisms only take support from the host; they are usually not [[parasite]]s. Parasitic and semi-parasitic plants, like the [[mistletoe]] are not true epiphytes. Epiphytes usually use [[photosynthesis]] to get energy; often they have adapted their [[leaf|leaves]] to be able to capture [[rain]]water (and [[moisture]] from the [[air]]) if they are not aquatic. Epiphytes are importan