Birmingham Botanical Gardens BASE

  

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  Epiphytes

These plants establish themselves on the upper branches of main canopy and emergent trees, where a share of the sunlight is available to them. They only use the branches as resting places and do no harm to their gost. As they do not grow in the soil, supply of water is often restricted, therefore many epiphytes possess desert-like features: succulent leaves, thick, waxy surface layers and water storage organs.
 
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Notice Bromeliads growing on the branches at the side of the pool. Most of them are tank epiphytes, the leaves group together very closely and form water-tight 'tanks' which can hold rainwater and rotting vegetable debris and which provides the necessary nutrients for growth.

Orchids hang in small baskets over the pool. Orchids are only epiphytic in the rainforest. They absorb water through aerial roots and store it in thick leaves or swollen stems which look like bulbs.

Spanish Moss (Tillandsia usneiodes) are silvery hair-like plants also hanging from the branches at the side of the pool. These plants are covered with umbrella shaped hairs which absorb moisture from the atmosphere.

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