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Epiphyte vs Photophyte - What's the difference?

epiphyte | photophyte |

As nouns the difference between epiphyte and photophyte

is that epiphyte is (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 while photophyte is (biology|rare) any epiphyte growing in a well-lit environment.

epiphyte

Noun

(en 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.
  • * 1848 , John Lindley, A notice of some species of Rhododendron inhabiting Borneo'', ''Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society , Volume 3, page 88,
  • It has been suggested to me that these fine plants will not prove cultivable, because they are epiphytes'.The probability however is, that they do not require to be treated as ' epiphytes , and that, like orchids, they will grow better if committed judiciously to the earth.
  • * 1893 , Natural Science: A Monthly Review of Scientific Progress , Volume 3, page 185,
  • The nature of the surface of a plant also determines the number and sort of Epiphytes which lodge on it.

    photophyte

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (biology, rare) Any epiphyte growing in a well-lit environment
  • See also

    *skiophyte