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wrote in message . .. In article , Cereus-validus... wrote: I'm not talking about escaped plants from cultivation. I was referring to the possibility of epiphytic species evolving naturally from other species already found in the area of the Pacific Northwest. The isolation of the Olympic forest prevents any epiphytic flowering species from the far away Southeastern US or Mexico from ever possibly migrating there. Any endemic epiphytic flowering species would be unique to the region. There are many species in the coastal flora of British Columbia that also occur naturally in Kamchatka, Sakhalin and adjacent north Pacific coastal areas. There are also a number of genera with closely related species in similar areas on both sides of the north Pacific. The distribution is an indication of climates during the interglacials, when the two areas had a contiguous ecosystem. I don't know how far down the west coast the temperate rainforest extended during the glacials and interglacials, but during the last glacial, most of the western US was much wetter than it is now. Even 10-20,000 years ago, most of the western US deserts were open forest and grassland, with plentiful shallow lakes. So not only was there a clear path for species to move from other parts of North America, but also from temperate Asia. Of course, as Sean has pointed out, epiphytes could readily have developed locally. I spent a summer on the west coast of Vancouver Island long ago, and saw tree branches densely covered with growing moss into which ferns and flowering plants had rooted. I don't know if any of them were true epiphytes, but it was certainly a great opportunity for a terrestrial plant to evolve epiphytism. For that matter, I sometimes see terrestrial flowering plants growing naturally in tree crotches here in Toronto, a cold continental climate with a natural flora of deciduous to mixed forest. Btw, does anyone know if there are mistletoes native to the temperate Pacific rainforest? These parasites are certainly common in moist temperate areas in northern Europe. Or do parasitic plants that grow on trees count as epiphytes? On the south temperate coast of Australia mistletoe is common on Eucalypts. Every back yard seems to have one. |
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