Kalmar "semiepiphyte" ita ce hade da kalmomin botanical guda biyu: "Semi-" ma'ana partial ko rabi, da "epiphyte" yana nufin tsire-tsire da ke tsiro akan wata shuka amma ba ta dogara da ita don gina jiki ba. A semiepiphyte, saboda haka, tsire-tsire ne wanda ke nuna halaye na duka epiphyte da kuma tsire-tsire marasa epiphytic. . Duk da haka, ba kamar epiphytes na gaskiya ba, semiepiphytes ƙarshe aika tushen zuwa ƙasa ko wani kwayoyin halitta don samun damar gina jiki da ruwa daga ƙasa. Wadannan tushen suna samar da semiepiphyte tare da ingantaccen tushen abin dogaro idan aka kwatanta da dogaro da shuka kawai. ƙasa ko wasu tushen abubuwan gina jiki. Wannan daidaitawa yana ba da damar semiepiphytes don samun damar ƙarin albarkatu da haɓaka damar su na rayuwa idan aka kwatanta da epiphytes na yau da kullun.