Explore the remarkable plant adaptations that capture light, shed rain, climb toward the canopy, and recycle nutrients.
Discover rainforest plants, from giant canopy trees and climbing vines to palms, ferns, orchids, bromeliads, mosses, and fungi-rich forest floors.
Tall trees form the structure of a tropical rainforest.
Learn MorePlant leaves must capture sunlight while handling frequent rain.
Learn MoreLianas are woody vines that root in the ground and climb trees to reach brighter canopy light.
Learn MoreEpiphytes grow on other plants for support without taking food from them.
Learn MoreOnly a small portion of the sunlight reaching the canopy continues to the forest floor, so lower plants are adapted to shade.
Learn MoreRainforest plants depend on animals and fungi as well as sunlight and water.
Learn MoreTall trees form the structure of a tropical rainforest. Some emergent trees rise above the main canopy, while many others create a nearly continuous roof of leaves. In shallow tropical soils, wide buttress roots can help support huge trunks. Tree crowns compete for sunlight and produce flowers, fruit, and seeds that feed animals. A mature tree also creates habitat in bark, holes, branches, and pools of trapped water, making it a small ecosystem of its own.
Plant leaves must capture sunlight while handling frequent rain. Many rainforest leaves are broad, helping them gather light in shady places, and some have pointed drip tips that allow water to run off. Leaves exposed above the canopy may be smaller or tougher because sunlight, wind, and drying are stronger there. Young leaves sometimes contain red pigments or chemical defenses. Plants arrange leaves at different heights and angles to reduce overlap and use available light.
Lianas are woody vines that root in the ground and climb trees to reach brighter canopy light. Other climbers use curling tendrils, hooks, twining stems, or clinging roots. Climbing saves the energy required to build a thick supporting trunk, but the plant depends on another structure. Vines can create bridges used by animals and add leaves and fruit to the canopy. When trees fall and open sunny gaps, fast-growing climbers may spread quickly.
Epiphytes grow on other plants for support without taking food from them. Orchids, bromeliads, ferns, mosses, and other epiphytes can live on branches high in the canopy, where light is stronger but soil is absent. They collect water and nutrients from rain, dust, fallen leaves, and trapped debris. Some bromeliads form cups that hold water and shelter insects, frogs, or other small organisms. Specialized roots help epiphytes cling securely above the ground.
Only a small portion of the sunlight reaching the canopy continues to the forest floor, so lower plants are adapted to shade. Seedlings may wait years for a fallen tree to open a gap, then grow rapidly toward the light. Palms, ferns, herbs, mosses, and young trees occupy different patches. Warmth and moisture speed decomposition, so fungi and tiny organisms quickly break down dead material and release nutrients that living roots can absorb again.
Rainforest plants depend on animals and fungi as well as sunlight and water. Insects, birds, and bats carry pollen between flowers. Monkeys, birds, rodents, and many other animals eat fruit and spread seeds. Fungi connected to roots can help plants obtain water and nutrients, while receiving sugars in return. Some plants house ants that defend leaves from herbivores. These partnerships help explain how so many species share a crowded forest.