Lithophyte

Nepenthes sp. Misool growing as a lithophyte in Raja Ampat, New Guinea

Lithophytes are plants that grow in or on rocks. Those that grow on rocks are also known as epipetric or epilithic plants.

Nutrients

Lithophytes that grow on land feed off nutrients from rain water and nearby decaying plants, including their own dead tissue. Chasmophytes grow in fissures in rocks where soil or organic matter has accumulated.

Examples

Examples of lithophytes include several Paphiopedilum orchids, ferns, many algae and liverworts. Species that only grow on rock or gravel are obligate lithophytes. Species that grow on rocky substrate and elsewhere are facultative lithophytes.

Rock Felt Fern, Elkhorn fern, Birds Nest Fern and moss growing on Hawkesbury Sandstone at Chatswood West, Australia

Carnivorous plants

As nutrients tend to be rarely available to lithophytes or chasmophytes, many species of carnivorous plants can be viewed as being pre-adapted to life on rocks. By consuming prey, these plants can gather more nutrients than non-carnivorous lithophytes. Examples include the pitcher plants Nepenthes campanulata and Heliamphora exappendiculata, many Pinguicula and several Utricularia species.

See also

• Epibiont, an organism that grows on another life form
• Epiphyte
• Endosymbiont
• Epiphytic fungus
• Epiphytic bacteria