Climbing Plants

plants that grow upward and maintain themselves on some kind of support with the aid of special adaptations. They are a type of liana. Some climbing plants, including many species of briar, dewberry, bedstraw, and rattan palm, cling to the support by means of hairs, prickles, or spines on their stems and leaves. Root-climbing plants, such as ivy, vanilla, and pepper, have bundles of adventitious roots on their stems that slip into the open spaces of the support. Some climbing plants are characterized by tendrils that arise as a result of the transformation of the stems, leaves, or parts of leaves (occurring particularly often among legumes); tendrils also arise from whole shoots and inflorescences (grapes). The tendrils are hapto-tropic; prolonged contact with the support causes them to grow unevenly and to wind around it.