CLUSIA - MORPHOGENIC, PHYSIOLOGICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL STRATEGIES OF LIANAS IN TROPIC FORESTS

The life-forms of epiphytes and lianas may interchange. Lianas, which lose soil contact, become epiphytes. Some epiphytes, which gain soil contact via adventitious roots and strangle their hosts, become independent trees. Seeds of Clusia may germinate terrestrially or in epiphytic humus nests, and thus seedlings may become independent Clusia trees directly or indirectly via an epiphytic stage. In addition to the diversity of the numerous species of the genus Clusia, the habitats occupied, and its life-forms, Clusia shows high physiological and biochemical variability with numerous special features.