Myrmecodia platytyrea

Description

Myrmecodia is a genus of epiphytic myrmecophytes , native to Southeast Asia, but also present in Indochina, Malaysia, the Southwest Pacific, the Philippines, Fiji, and extending south to Queensland and Cape York in Australia. It is one of five ant-plant genera in the family Rubiaceae, the others being Anthorrhiza, Hydnophytum, Myrmephytum, and Squamellaria.Myrmecophytes, or ant plants, live in a mutualistic association with a colony of ants. These plants possess structural adaptations that provide ants with food and/or shelter. Myrmecodia are also classified as ephiphytes. The term epiphytic derives from the Greek epi- meaning upon and phyton meaning 'plant. Epiphytic plants are sometimes called "air plants" because they do not root in soil. An epiphyte is a plant that grows harmlessly upon another plant and derives its nutrition and water supply from the air and debris found in its immediate environment. Ephiphytes are a non-parasitic type of plant and differ from parasitic organisms in that this type of plant only relies on its host for physical support and does not necessarily have a negative effect on the host plant.