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Which Pandanales plants are saprophytes on the forest floor?

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Screw pine (Pandanus tectorius) — Pandanales Screw pine (*Pandanus tectorius*)

Within the order Pandanales, the plants that grow as saprophytic herbs on the forest floor belong to the family Triuridaceae.1

It is important to clarify that while these plants were historically referred to as saprophytes, experts now technically classify them as mycoheterotrophs. This is because they do not draw nourishment directly from decaying organic matter themselves; rather, they form a symbiotic relationship with mycorrhizal fungi that penetrate their root cells. These fungi extract nutrients from the substrate and provide them to the plant, effectively making the plant a "mycoheterotroph" that relies on fungal networks for its nutrition.23

Members of the Triuridaceae family are small, achlorophyllous (lacking chlorophyll) herbs characterized by reduced, scalelike leaves. They are found in tropical rainforests worldwide, where they thrive on the forest floor.2