The Exotic Rainforest
A Private Botanical Garden

 

 

At the opposite end of the main walk you can look back and see the newly added epiphytic tree which extends over the walk.  The tree is covered  with orchids, bromeliad hybrids and many epiphytic species.  An epiphyte (ep-a-FIT) is a plant that grows upon another plant which is normally a tree.  And believe it or not, orchids and bromeliad plants don't grow in pots in the rain forest!  They grow attached to the branches of trees!

The the left of the walkway grow many climbing epiphytic species including gigantic Philodendron specimens.  Most people think of a Philodendron as a small plant you grow on your kitchen counter or in the bathroom but there are more than 1000 species found in the rain forest and many grow to be very large!  Several of our exotic species can be seen in the lower lef of the photo.  And in the mid-right side of the walk you can see the large leaves of exotic Anthurium species that also grow from the limbs of rain forest trees.  Our goal in adding the epiphytic log was to allow visitors to feel exactly as they would as you walk through a natural rain forest in Central or South America.

 

 

Click the small photo (above), it will take you to the pond.