Abstract
Rheophytes are plant species confined to streambeds that are regularly subject to fast-running floods after heavy rains. They include obligate and facultative rheophytes, paedorheophytes, and also pseudorheophytes, which differ in distribution and life history. Their diversity in the humid tropics, variations in habit and among Plant gtroups, adaptive strategies of life history, habitat segregation, speciation, and evolutionary morphology, are briefly reviewed. Some aspects of rheophytes that may attract botanists interested in evolution and morphology are noted.
