Lianas

Lianas reach rainforest canopies without building trunks. These woody vines climb existing trees, investing in flexible stems and efficient hydraulics rather than self-supporting structure. A liana might reach 300 feet of length while its stem is only inches in diameter. It achieves canopy access at a fraction of the structural cost.

The strategy trades independence for efficiency. Lianas can't exist without host trees; they're structurally parasitic even when not physiologically harmful. But given that host trees exist, lianas can allocate resources that would have built trunk to building more leaves, more stems, more extent. They exploit existing infrastructure rather than duplicating it.

Liana vessels are remarkably wide - up to 500 micrometers in diameter compared to 50-100 for most trees. This enables efficient water transport through narrow stems over long distances. The same vessel size that would cause dangerous cavitation in a tree works in a liana because the flexible stem can bend without breaking water columns. Different architecture enables different hydraulics.

The business insight is that infrastructure dependence can enable resource efficiency. Companies that leverage cloud computing instead of building data centers, use contract manufacturing instead of building factories, or rely on platform distribution instead of building their own - these follow liana strategy. The trade-off is dependence on infrastructure providers, but the efficiency gain can be enormous.