noun
definition
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.
Examples of epiphyte in a Sentence
As in the case of epiphytic brown seaweeds, the rhizoids of the epiphyte often penetrate the substance of the supporting alga.
In epiphytic forms the rhizoids of the epiphyte often penetrate into the tissue of the host, and certain epiphytes are not known to occur excepting in connexion with a certain host; but to what extent, if any, there is a partial parasitism in these cases has not been ascertained.
In order that a Fungus may enter a plant, it must be able to overcome not merely the resistance of cell-walls, but that of the living protoplasm; if it cannot do this, it must remain outside as a mere epiphyte, e.g.