Plants That Live In The Forest Floor

They include many types of mushrooms and other fungi.

Plants that live in the forest floor.

These sixteen small forest floor plants will enchant hikers in lowland forests. Although principally composed of non living organic material the forest floor also teems with a wide variety of. Inside its juicy berries are coffee beans that eventually make this plant one of the most important plants in the world. It is found in the rainforests of borneo and sumatra.

The forest floor is also where decomposition takes place. This fertile ground cover is important for nourishing the plants that are capable of surviving in the dark under layer of a forest. Typically coffee plants grow under tree shades. The forest floor is covered in a layer of decomposition known as detritus.

Large leafed shrubs and saplings new trees grow in the patches of sunlight. The forest floor is often blanketed with decaying leaves twigs fallen trees animal scat moss and other detritus the forest floor is where recycling occurs fungi insects bacteria and earthworms are among the many organisms that break down waste materials and ready them for reuse and recycling throughout the forest system. Unlike the brightly colored flowers of alpine meadows because sunlight is limited under the forest canopy most of these plants have flowers that are white cream or pale pink. This scent attracts the flies which will pollinate the flower.

Coffee plants which grow up to 30 feet high are also widespread in the amazon rainforest. The plants that are able to survive in the low light conditions of the forest floor are adapted to warm moist environments and of course very little sunlight. This rare plant grows on vines that cross the forest floor. Rafflesia arnoldii flowers can reach 1 m 3 ft in diameter.

Only two per cent of sunlight gets through the thick canopy trees and understorey plants to reach the forest floor. As animals decompose along the forest floor nutrients seep into the soil and help feed plants that would otherwise be malnourished. The forest floor is the bottom layer of the rainforest and its also the darkest layer of the rainforest. The forest floor is the lowest layer where it is dark hot and damp.

The lack of light water and nutrients all add up to why plants struggle growing on the forest floor and so only a few are adapted to live there. These plants are not conspicuous. Decomposition is the process by which fungi and microorganisms break down dead plants and animals and recycle essential materials and nutrients. Hence the amazonian forest environment is perfect for it.

You ll have to keep your eyes down though. Dead leaves fallen from the plants in the layers above cover the ground. These darkness loving plants live inside of dead and decomposing trees branches and other rotting plant material.