Foliicolous refers to the growth habit of certain
lichen
A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...
s,
algae
Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...
,
fungi
A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...
,
liverwort
Liverworts are a group of non-vascular land plants forming the division Marchantiophyta (). They may also be referred to as hepatics. Like mosses and hornworts, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry ...
s, and other
bryophyte
Bryophytes () are a group of embryophyte, land plants (embryophytes), sometimes treated as a taxonomic Division (taxonomy), division referred to as Bryophyta ''Sensu#Common qualifiers, sensu lato'', that contains three groups of non-vascular pla ...
s that prefer to grow on the leaves of
vascular plants
Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes (, ) or collectively tracheophyta (; ), are plants that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They also have a specialized non-lignified tissue ( ...
.
''Foliicolous'' simply means 'growing upon leaves' whilst epiphyllous derives from the Greek meaning on or over and means leaf so 'over leaf' and hypophyllous means 'under leaf'.
The
microhabitat
In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...
on the leaf surface is called a
phyllosphere
In microbiology, the phyllosphere is the total above-ground surface of a plant when viewed as a habitat for microorganisms.Leveau, Johan H.J. (2006"Microbial communities in the phyllosphere" In: Riederer M. and Müller C. (Eds) ''Biology of the ...
.
See also
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Epibiont
An epibiont (from the Ancient Greek meaning "living on top of") is an organism that lives on the surface of another living organism, called the basibiont ("living underneath"). The interaction between the two organisms is called epibiosis. An ep ...
*
Epiphytes
An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphyt ...
*
Phyllosphere
In microbiology, the phyllosphere is the total above-ground surface of a plant when viewed as a habitat for microorganisms.Leveau, Johan H.J. (2006"Microbial communities in the phyllosphere" In: Riederer M. and Müller C. (Eds) ''Biology of the ...
*
Epiphytic fungus
An epiphytic fungus is a fungus that grows upon, or attached to, a living plant. The term epiphytic derives from the Greek ''epi-'' (meaning 'upon') and ''phyton'' (meaning 'plant').
Examples
Many examples of epiphytic microorganisms exist. The e ...
*
Parasitic plant
A parasitic plant is a plant that derives some or all of its nutritional requirements from another living plant. They make up about 1% of angiosperms and are found in almost every biome. All Parasite, parasitic plants develop a specialized organ ...
*
Epilith
*
Microbiota
Microbiota are the range of microorganisms that may be commensal, mutualistic, or pathogenic found in and on all multicellular organisms, including plants. Microbiota include bacteria, archaea, protists, fungi, and viruses, and have been found ...
References
{{reflist, 40em
External links
Dr. Robert Lücking's Foliicolous Lichen Homepage
Lichens
Biological interactions
Ecology terminology
Plants by habit