1. Adaptations of plants to the conditions in the tropical rainforest

2. Why Adapt
Plants in the rainforest must adapt to the EQUATORIAL CLIMATE. It is a hot and wet climate.
Adaptations help the plants in the rainforest to
Get Sunlight, water, air or nutrients
Not to be eaten
Stay put
Reproduce

3. Adapting to high rainfall
With over 2000mm of rain per year, plants must shed water efficiently
The leaves of many of the plants in the rainforest has drip tips for this purpose. Also the buttress roots provide extra support for trees growing in the spongy wet soils

4. Drip tip leaves and Buttress roots

5. Adapting to A lot or lack of sunlight
The Canopy layer of the tropical rainforest blocks out 90% of the sunlight, making the forest floor very dark.
Large leaves are common in the rainforest. They increase the amount of sunlight a plant can capture. Other plants like orchids, bromeliads and ferns grow as epiphytes high up in the canopy where there is more sunlight.

6. These are bromeliads

7. Bark is thin and smooth
Main objective is to grow towards the sunlight. Second, smoothness of the bark makes it difficult for other plants to grow on them.

8. Lianas
Lianas are climbing woody vines that drape rainforest trees. They have roots in the ground and climbing high into the tree canopy to reach available sunlight.
Many start their lives in the rainforest canopy by sending their roots to the ground for food.