A plant that obtains its moisture and nutrients from the air rather than from soil, such as an air plant or epiphyte.
From Greek 'aero-' (air) + 'phyte' (plant). Botanists coined this term to describe plants with unusual survival strategies in tropical forests.
Aerophytes like bromeliads and Spanish moss inspired scientists studying how to grow food in space—if plants can thrive on air and minimal substrate here, maybe they can feed astronauts on the Moon!
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