Introduction

A liana is a woody plant which is rooted in the ground but needs the physical support of a nearby tree for its weak stem and branches to lean and ascend for exposing its canopy to sunlight. Based on transect sampling in rain forests, it has been estimated that climbers or lianas comprise about one-fifth of all plant types1 (trees, shrubs, herbs, epiphytes, climbers, lianas and stragglers). Investigations on liana in the tropical rainforest are hindered by dense vegetation; even their gross morphology has neither been adequately described nor illustrated. Therefore if a rainforest liana can be successfully grown in a research campus, this can be considered a breakthrough as opportunities can be opened up for various types of research – such as biomechanical characteristics of its specific parts, tropic responses, host preference, climbing mechanism, nitrogen fixation, type of  photosynthesis (C3 or C4), root pressure, reproductive biology, mechanism in invasive growth, and morphological response upon contact with support trees. With these objectives, seeds of Entada pursaetha (Mimosoideae, Leguminosae) were sown in a research campus in Bangalore– a place in Deccan Plateau– with an average elevation of 918 msl and mean annual precipitation of 950 mm, chiefly during monsoon period from July to October. A single plant has unexpectedly attained a gigantic size in less than 17 years; with its canopy infesting the crowns of nearby trees. Although data on the ontogenetic changes of this genet are unavailable because of the passage of time, we attempt an interpretation of its growth characteristics and reconstruct the events in Entada development from its extant morphological organization. We point out some questions vital to understanding the evolution of the lianoid forms.