Costa Rica has many different types of plants. Ranging from the smallest of flowers to trees hundreds of feet tall. There are over 10,000 species of vascular plants in Costa Rica, 1,300 of which are orchids. There are 28 endemic species of plants in Costa Rica. The three plant families that originated in the Neotropic are Bromeliaceae, Cannaceae, and Heliconiaceae. A buttress in a large ridge near the base of a tree that can rise 30 feet high before blending into the trunk. Buttress roots provide extra stability, and help because roots of tropical rain forest trees are not typically as deep as those of trees in temperate zones. Prop and stilt roots help give support to trees growing in shallow, wet soils. They are above-ground roots and can grow 28 inches a month. Epiphytes are plants that live on the surface of other plants, mainly the trunk and branches. They grow on trees to take advantage of the sunlight in the canopy. Epiphytes are like parasites, they grow on a host, but unlike parasites they take no nutrients from the tree itself, but get heir nutrients from the air, falling rain, and the compost that lies on the trees branches.