Lithophytes are plants which grow in or on rocks. Lithophytes 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 of lithophytes include several Paphiopedilum orchids, ferns, many algae and liverworts. Species which only grow on rock or gravel, are obligate lithophytes. Species which not only grow on rocky substrate are facultative lithophytes.
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 lithophtytes.[1] Examples include the pitcher plants Nepenthes campanulata and Heliamphora exappendiculata, many Pinguicula and several Utricularia species.
References
- ^ McPherson, S.R., 2009. Redfern Natural History Productions. Carnivorous Plants and Their Habitats, Vol 1: 176-180