flora
More than half of world's plants and animals are found in the tropical rainforest. The tropical rainforest can contain as many as 100 different tree species in one square kilometer. About 25% of medicines we use come from tropical rainforest plants. 70% of plants in rainforest are trees and the tropical rainforest has more kinds of trees than any other area in world. Many of the trees have straight trunks that don’t branch out for more than 100 feet up and smooth bark that is easy to latch onto, so that other plants can have easier access to light and because plants in the tropical rainforest don't need protection from the cold of lack of water. Other typical plant adaptions in the tropical rainforest are drip tips, grooved leaves and oily coatings to shed water so that water doesn’t weigh down the plant's leaves causing them to break. Also to get as much sunlight in understory as possible, leaves are very big, and to prevent water loss in the canopy in the strong sunlight, leaves are very small, dark green and leathery. Another typical plant adaptation is that some plants have leaf stalks that turn with the movement of the sun to get the maximum amount of sunlight. Trees also have extra strong roots and trunks for more support in the poor soil and some plants grow on trees in emergent to get as much sunlight as possible. These plants are called epiphytes.
70% of the tropical rainforest is comprised of trees. There are hundreds of species and the tree's lifespan is usually 50 to 100 years. The trees in the tropical rainforest are normally broad leafed and have buttressed trunks with shallow roots.
Vines are also a very common plant in the tropical rainforest. There are over 2500 species of vines in the tropical rainforest and lianas are sometimes as big as a person.
Epiphytes are another typical tropical rainforest plant. Epiphytes are plants that live on the surface of other plants (especially tree trunks and branches) and grow to take advantage of the sunlight in the canopy. Some common examples of epiphytes found in the tropical rainforest and orchids and bromeliads. There are more than 20,000 orchid varieties in the tropical rainforest. Other plants common in the tropical rainforest are ferns, mosses and palms.