Orchids belong to one of the two largest families of flowering plants, the Orchidaceae. (...) Although many of the most exotic species are {{tooltip label="epiphytes"}}Said of a plant that grows upon another plant (such as a tree) non-parasitically or sometimes upon some other object (such as a building or a telegraph wire), derives its moisture and nutrients from the air and rain and sometimes from debris accumulating around it, and is found in the temperate zone (as many mosses, liverworts, lichens and algae) and in the tropics (as many ferns, cacti, orchids, and bromeliads) - called also air plants.{{/tooltip}}, many orchids are also terrestrial and saprophytic.