Bromeliads in rainforest. Unidentified long-leafed bromeliad plants growing on mossy tree trunks in cloudforest. These bromeliads are epiphytes (air plants) which have no roots in the soil and absorb water and nutrients straight from the atmosphere. Cloudforest grows at high altitudes (here at 1, 500 metres) where temperatures are low, and rising winds bring near continuous precipitation or mists throughout the year. Photographed in western Ecuador.