33 2 PLANT LIFE. 



adapted to become dry without injury, while the larger ones 

 are inhabitants of moist tropical regions, where the danger 

 of drying is avoided and it is possible to obtain an adequate 

 water supply. Their food materials are derived entirely 

 from the air and the water which falls upon them, while the 

 mineral salts are obtained from the dust which has been 

 carried by the air and accumulated upon the surface of the 

 supporting plant, or among the mass of dead and decaying 

 leaves and other debris about the base of the epiphyte. Or- 

 ganic matter from the decay of the older parts may also be 

 reabsorbed. 



An adaptation to this mode of life is marked in the repro- 

 ductive bodies. Of all epiphytes the seeds or spores are 

 either light and carried by the wind ; or the seeds are sticky 

 and carried by birds and other animals ; or they are eaten by 

 birds and voided upon the trees where they are adapted to 

 germinate. 



