Phorophyte

In botany, phorophytes are plants on which epiphytes grow.

[2] The epiphytes benefit from the habitats provided, but the phorophyte is unaffected.

In other words, the obligate epiphytes utilize phorophytes as habitats, without parasitizing them.

[3] Different phorophytes provide different conditions to the plants, which grown on their surface.

[3] Some epiphytic orchids tend to grow on phorophytes with rough bark.