Liana

A liana is a long-stemmed woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy in search of direct sunlight.

For example, in the Eastern tropical forests of Madagascar, many lemurs achieve higher mobility from the web of lianas draped amongst the vertical tree species.

[10] Lianas are uniquely adapted to living in such forests as they use the host tree, for stability, to reach to top of the canopy.

[16] Dr. Francis E. Putz states that lianas (species not indicated) have weighed "hundreds of tons" and been a half mile (0.8 km) in length.

[17] One way of distinguishing lianas from trees and shrubs is based on the stiffness, specifically, the Young's modulus of various parts of the stem.