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. The word ''liana'' does not refer to a taxonomic grouping, but rather a habit of plant growth – much like ''tree'' or ''shrub''. It comes from standard French ''liane'', itself from an Antilles French dialect word meaning to sheave. Provided by Wikipedia