hemiepiphyte
/ˌhɛmiˈɛpɪfaɪt/
noun
- A plant that starts its life as an epiphyte (growing on another plant) but later sends roots to the ground, or that starts in the ground and later becomes an epiphyte.
- Many hemiepiphytes in the rainforest start as seeds dropped by birds onto tree branches.
- The botanist studied how a hemiepiphyte's roots change as it transitions from an air plant to a ground-rooted one.
- The strangler fig is a well-known hemiepiphyte that begins growing on a host tree and eventually sends roots to the soil.