Gas exchange of terrestrial and epiphytic orchids from Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest

Leaf gas exchange of terrestrial and epiphytic orchids from the Atlantic Rainforest in northeast Brazil was investigated under artificial growth conditions. The terrestrial orchids showed higher values of all photosynthetic parameters in comparison to epiphytic ones. There was a close relationship between PN and gs for both terrestrial and epiphytic orchids. Taken together, our results demonstrated that the photosynthetic parameters were related to the specific growth habits of the orchids under study.