This is not theft. High in a branch fork, the Cooktown orchid holds itself above the forest floor, yet its grip does not tap the tree's sap or invade its tissues; it uses bark as a perch. Height costs it nothing. Its roots may cling firmly, but anchorage is not feeding.That restraint is its advantage. Growing as an epiphyte, it spreads aerial roots over bark; their velamen, a porous outer layer, c...More