Scientific position: 

Order           : Asparagales

Family         : Orchidaceae

Sub-family : Epidendroideae

Tribe           : Malaxideae

Description:

Epidendroideae is larger than all the other orchid subfamilies together, comprising more than 15,000 species in 576 genera, also endemic to Sumatra and Java.

• Epiphytes are plants which grow above the ground, on top of other plants.
• They are not planted in the soil and are not parasitic .
• By growing on other plants, the epiphytes can reach to the light better or where they can avoid struggling for light.
• Many mosses and lichens are epiphytes, as are approximately 10 per cent of all seed plants and ferns.
• Epiphytes are common in some groups of plants, such as ferns, mosses, strangler figs, lichens, and algae.
• Over half of the 20,000 species of orchids are epiphytes.

Habitat:

• Most epiphytic seed plants and ferns are found in tropical and subtropical rain forests because they need high humidity to survive.
• The areas which most epiphytes grow are the montane rainforests.
• Epiphytic orchids are found on many positions of the host tree, depending on species requirements and size, some large species will grow in a fork, whereas some small species scramble through thin branches, other species will climb up the trunk etc. etc.
• The trees provide many habitats with different conditions of temperature, contact and light.