{"id":13291,"date":"2026-05-14T14:49:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T12:49:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marimurtra.cat\/?p=13291"},"modified":"2026-05-14T14:51:01","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T12:51:01","slug":"epiphytism-the-strategy-of-living-between-heaven-and-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marimurtra.cat\/en\/epiphytism-the-strategy-of-living-between-heaven-and-earth\/","title":{"rendered":"Epiphytism: the strategy of living between heaven and earth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At the Marimurtra Botanical Garden<\/strong>, we often invite visitors to look up beyond the flowerbeds. Among the branches of our specimens, a fascinating biological dynamic develops that we popularly call “plant friendship<\/strong>“, but which in strict botanical terms responds to the concept of epiphytism<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A brilliant evolutionary adaptation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Epiphytism is not only found in a taxonomic group in itself, but is a life strategy<\/strong> that has evolved independently in some 80 families of vascular plants. This adaptation allows certain species to colonize the arboreal stratum<\/strong> to guarantee a resource that is often scarce on the floor of jungles and forests. By placing themselves on the branches, these plants avoid direct competition<\/strong> for space and light, transforming the bark of the trees into their ecological niche.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With all this, it is essential to debunk a common myth: epiphytes are not parasites<\/strong>. Unlike the latter, epiphytes do not develop haustoria (roots that penetrate the host’s tissues to extract nutrients), but instead use the tree exclusively as a support<\/strong> to be higher up. It is a relationship of commensalism<\/strong> where the epiphyte obtains a clear benefit (+) while the tree receives no harm (=).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since they do not have access to the ground, these plants have developed sophisticated mechanisms to capture water and nutrients:<\/p>\n\n\n\n