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liana

 
Dictionary: li·an·a   (lē-ä'nə, -ăn'ə) pronunciation also li·ane
(-än', -ăn')
n.
Any of various climbing, woody, usually tropical vines.

[Alteration of French liane, probably from lier, to bind, from Old French. See liable.]


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Any of various long-stemmed, woody vines, especially of tropical rain forests, that are rooted in the soil and climb or twine around other plants as they grow upward. Lianas often form a tangled network, up to 330 ft (100 m) high, around and among the trees that support them.

For more information on liana, visit Britannica.com.

A creeper of the equatorial rain forest which winds and climbs around trees for support.

 
liana (lēä') or liane (lēän'), name for any climbing plant that roots in the ground. The term is most often used for the woody vines that form a characteristic part of tropical rain-forest vegetation; they are sometimes also called bushropes or simply vines. Although lianas are found in every climate where there are trees to support them, they are most abundant and luxuriant in the tropics, where rapid growth to reach the light is of particular advantage in the dense vegetation. There they often ascend and descend more than one tree. Climbing palms have been measured at over 700 ft (210 m) long; a length of over 200 ft (60 m) is not unusual for many other types. Most plant families with tropical species include lianas. The distinction between true lianas and weak-stemmed trees or half-climbing shrubs cannot always be clearly drawn and depends largely on the age of the plant concerned.


Wikipedia: Liana
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Liana tangle across a forest in the Western Ghats
Woman swinging on a liana in Aokigahara forest, Japan
A canopy that has formed over Monkey Ladder Vine

A liana is any of various long-stemmed, usually woody vines that are rooted in the soil at ground level and use trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy in order to get access to well-lit areas of the forest.[1] Lianas are especially characteristic of tropical moist deciduous forests and rainforests. These climbers often form bridges between the forest canopy, connect the entire forest and provide arboreal animals with paths across the forest. They also compete with forest trees for sunlight.[2] There are also temperate lianas, however, for example the members of the genus Clematis. Well-known lianas include Monkey Ladder, Water Vine and Pothos.[citation needed]

Lianas play an ecological role in providing access routes in the forest canopy for arboreal species such as lemurs. For example, in the eastern rainforests of Madagascar, many prosimians achieve higher mobility from the web of lianas draped amongst the vertical tree species. Many lemurs prefer trees with lianas for their roost sites.[3] Some lianas are strong enough to support the weight of an adult human.

Note that "liana" is not a taxonomic grouping, but rather a description of the way the plant grows, and lianas may be found in many different plant families. 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. Trees and shrubs have young twigs and smaller branches which are quite flexible and older growth (trunks and large branches) which are stiffer, whereas a liana often has stiff young growths and older growth, at the base of the stem, which is more flexible.[4]

References

  1. ^ ""Britannica on "liana"". http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/338786/liana. 
  2. ^ Schnitzer S.A., Bongers F. (2002) The ecology of lianas and their role in forests. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 17 (5):223-230.
  3. ^ Rendigs, A., U. Radespiel, D. Wrogemann and E. Zimmermann. 2003. Relationship between microhabitat structure and distribution of mouse lemurs (Microcebus spp.) in northwestern Madagascar. Int. J. Primatol. 24 (1): 47–64.
  4. ^ Lahaye, R. (2005). "Evolution of shrub-like growth forms in the lianoid subfamily Secamonoideae (Apocynaceae s.l.) of Madagascar: phylogeny, biomechanics, and development". American Journal of Botany 92: 1381. doi:10.3732/ajb.92.8.1381. 



 
 
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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
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Geography Dictionary. A Dictionary of Geography. Copyright © Susan Mayhew 1992, 1997, 2004. All rights reserved.  Read more
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