George15 Flora

Hi Everyone here is my Flora.

There are many plants in a tropical rainforest. More than two thirds of the world’s plant species live in tropical rainforests. There are still many plants unnamed while others are a common sight in a rainforest.

Rainforest plants are very important for human and animal survival as they take in carbon dioxide and in a process called photosynthesis, they provide themselves food and the gas that is released is oxygen which keeps the humans and animals alive.

Rainforest plants also provide food and shelter for other animals. The plants live in a humid environment and there are many species which would be rare in a more temperate climate. There is huge competition on the forest floor which has led to plants living on other trees and even strangling other plants to death for survival.

Bromeliads

Bromeliads have thick, waxy leaves that form a bowl shape in their centre for catching water. Some types of bromeliads can hold 6 litres of water. They are also related to the pineapple family. Bromeliads are little ecosystems in themselves as they provide a home for frogs, tadpoles, salamanders, snails, beetles and even mosquito larvae. When those animals die, they decompose and give the plant nutrients.

Epiphytes

Epiphytes (air plants) grow everywhere in a rainforests but can be found mainly on the trees. Lots of different epiphytes can grow on the same tree such as orchids, cacti, bromeliads, aroids, lichens, mosses and ferns. Epiphytes start their life in the canopy of the rainforest by seeds or spores that have been carried there by the birds and the wind. An epiphyte grows on a host but does not take nutrients from its host like a parasite.

Saprophytes

Saprophytes act as the rainforests decomposers keeping the soil fresh with lots of nutrients. Saprophytes work very efficiently and can break down dead animals and vegetation in one day. Decomposition in Temperate rainforests can take up to 6 weeks because it is colder and less humid. Lots of Saprophytes are microbes so you can not see them with the naked eye.

Buttress Roots

Most of the soil in a rainforest isn’t very nutritious because many of the nutrients are on the surface; therefore most of the rainforest trees have small roots. Some very tall trees have adapted to this and they have grown roots that come out of the side of the trees trunk and forge into the ground which then stabilizes the trees and enables the tree to gain extra nutrients from the soil.

Lianas

Ninety per cent of the world’s vines grow in tropical rainforests. Lianas are a climbing vine species that are found throughout tropical rainforests. They have thick stems and can grow up to 914 metres! They begin their life on the ground and use the trees for support and they climb up to the light they need to live. They attach themselves to the trees and sometimes wind themselves up the trunk.

Carnivorous Plants

Some plants eat other animals or insects for food. They attract them with a cavity filled with nectar. Animals that try to eat the insects are attracted as well. Some of these are the Rafflesia (smells like rotting meat and can grow to 9.14m) and the Venus Fly Trap (the most famous).

Orchids

Orchids are one of the most abundant species of flowering plants. There are more than 20 000 known species of orchids. They are very common in moist tropical regions. Often the orchids in a tropical rainforest are epiphytes. They vary a lot in shape, colour and size but still have the same pattern of three petals.

Strangler Fig

Most stranglers are a part of the fig family. The seed of a strangler fig starts as an epiphyte, it then sends down roots to the forest floor, where it surrounds the tree and starts to suffocate it. When the tree dies it is only a hollow log with a strangler around it. A Strangler Fig uses the tree as its host so it avoids competition for food on the forest floor.

I think Flora is very important to the world’s ecosystems especially within tropical rainforests.