Towards a Standardization of Terminology of the Climbing Habit in Plants

In science, standardization of terminology is crucial to make information accessible and allow proper comparison of studies’ results. Climbing plants and the climbing habit have been described in numerous ways, frequently with imprecise and dubious terms. We propose a standardization of terms regarding the climbing habit, with special attention to climbing mechanisms. We abide by previous suggestions that the terms “primary” and “secondary” hemiepiphyte be substituted by “hemiepiphyte” and “nomadic climber” respectively, thus emphasizing the relationship of the latter to the climbing habit. We also suggest that “climbing plant” or “climber” be used to describe plants displaying the climbing habit, and “liana” and “vine” be left for describing woody and herbaceous climbers respectively. As for climbing mechanisms, we propose an eight-category classification comprised of two major categories: passive climbing, containing scrambling, hooks or grapnels, and adhesive roots; and active climbing, containing twining, tendrils, prehensile branches, twining petioles, and twining inflorescences.