Tropical cloud forest. Cloud forests grow at high altitudes where temperatures are low, with rising winds bringing frequent precipitation or mists throughout the year. This results in a lush understorey growth of plants. The moisture also encourages a rich epiphyte flora of orchids and bromeliads to develop in the forest canopy. An epiphyte is a plant that grows on rocks or other plants for support, and obtains nutrients from the air and rain. Such plants are seen in the upper regions of the trees at centre left and at right. Photographed at 2,350 metres above sea level in the Rio Blanco Valley, Zamora-Chinchipe, Ecuador.