Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Saprophytic \Sap`ro*phyt"ic\, a.
   Feeding or growing upon decaying animal or vegetable matter;
   pertaining to a saprophyte or the saprophytes.

Source : WordNet®

saprophytic
     adj 1: obtaining food osmotically from dissolved organic material
     2: (of some plants or fungi) feeding  on dead or decaying
        organic matter