airplants… I don’t get them
In: Biology
It’s kind of a misnomer. They need water every week or so and as they grow they will send out roots to search for nutrients. I’ll bet more die due to owners basing care on their name than any other plant species.
They’re a family of plants that have evolved to have minimal/no absorption from their root systems. If present at all, the roots may just anchor the plant. This means they can grow places that other plants can’t, so they found an unfilled ecological niche to fill. They’ve figured out how to very quickly absorb water through their leaves so they can get enough water from water that falls on them (rain/mist). They still get their energy from the sun and most of their building block carbon from CO2 in the air, like other plants.
Because they can’t get much nutrients through their roots, they’re more sensitive to the water they get because that’s their only source of trace nutrients.
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