SAPROPHYTISM AND SYMBIOSIS 



327 



Acacia), secrete a substance which is greatly liked by 

 another kind of ants, a smaller, war-like species. These 

 ants, attracted by the much-prized food, make their home 

 on the tree or in special cavities in it, and repel all at- 

 tempts of the leaf-cutting species to reach the foliage. 



FIG. 234. Epiphytic group of bromeliads and orchids on a tree, in Cuba. 

 (Photo by M. T. Cook.) 



Such trees are called ant-loving (myrmecophylous) , or 

 myrmecophytes. 



307. Epiphytism. Any plant (whether parasite or not) 

 that lives on another, or upon any other convenient 

 support (Fig. 233), is an epiphyte, but the term is com- 



