This list of longest vines features vine species that can grow very long or vine specimens that are the longest in the world. This list is not all-inclusive in part because many species have never been measured, and also because more careful measurements are needed for many species on this list. Some species have been included because they are the largest of a habit type (such as Poison Oak as longest root climber) or as the longest member of their division or phylum (such as Equisetum giganteum).
A vine can refer to any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems or runners. The first five species are unlikely to be superseded or even to change order of rank.
| Species and family | Location | Length | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Snuff Box Sea Bean, or Elephant Creeper (Entada phaseoloides). (Mimosaceae). | Found throughout tropical Asia and the Pacific. This individual apparently in India. | 4900feet estimate.[1] | This species can also be up to 3feet thick[2] and is therefore also one of the most massive of vines, and for that matter of all plants. |
| Ribbon Vine (Bauhinia rubiginosa) (Caesalpinaceae) | This specimen in Suriname. | 1968abbr=offNaNabbr=off[3] | Ivan T. Sanderson, writing earlier, says only "several hundred yards". Sanderson believed these Surinam giants were the most massive plants on earth.[4] |
| Philodendron sp. (probably Ph. cordatum ) (Araceae). | Native to Central America. This one in Amherst, Massachusetts. | 1114abbr=offNaNabbr=off in 1984.[5] | The longest monocot. It also weighed 250lb. It is unknown whether it could grow this long or this heavy in the wild. |
| Rattan Manau (Calamus manan, or Calamus ornatus (Palmae, or Arecaceae) | East Indies. This one at the Buitenzorg (now Bogor) Botanic Gardens, Java, Indonesia. | 787feet exactly. The longest exact measurement.[6] [7] | Vines are up to 4inches thick. There are unconfirmed reports of rattans up to 1800feet in length.[8] C. maman also has a ten-foot (three meter) long flagellum, or spiney grasping organ at the end of each frond.[9] These are not true tendrils since they cannot twine. |
| Rotan Simambu (Calamus scipionum) [Palmae, or Arecaceae]. | Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. | Exactly 599abbr=offNaNabbr=off to the point where it was severed.[10] Upper reaches could not be recovered, but the total length was certainly well in excess of 600abbr=offNaNabbr=off. | Naturalist/writer Philip H. Gosse stated that he had seen a rattan (species not indicated) "no thicker than your finger" which was 1320abbr=offNaNabbr=off in length.[11] |
| Sea Hearts, Monkey Ladder or St. Thomas Creeper (Entada gigas) (Mimosaceae). | Found throughout Neotropics. This one in Jamaica. | At least 450abbr=offNaNabbr=off.[12] | Seedpods of E. gigas up to 8feet long and divided into segments like a Beggartick as against 5feet and undivided for E. phaseoloides. E. gigas has heart-shaped seeds while those of E. phaseoloides are round or rounded rectangular.[13] In spite of these differences, both species are frequently lumped as "E. scandens". The stem of this species can measure up to 3' 2" thick (three meters girth).[14] |
| Chinese Wisteria (Wisteria sinensis [15]) (Papilionaceae). | Native to China. This one in Sierra Madre, California. | About 500 feet (about 150 meters).[16] [17] [18] | Largest Wisteria the world. Weighs about 22 tons. Trunk about 3feet thick. Another Wisteria, a W. multijuga at Ushi Jima (or Usijima) Japan was stated in 1929 to be 1,100 years of age (but now pegged at 1200 years); probably the oldest vine of any species in the world.[19] [20] This wisteria is also famous for its racemes which are up to 7feet in length.[21] Another W. multijuga at Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan has a trunk five feet thick on its greater axis by about three feet on the lesser axis,[22] probably the thickest vine of any species. |
| Entada rheedii [Mimosaceae] | Tropical Africa and eastward to Queensland. | About 394 feet ("At least 120 meters") [23] | . |
| "May Chio" Calamus rudentum (Palmae, or Arecaceae) | Rainforests of Vietnam and Cambodia. | This rattan is up to 330abbr=offNaNabbr=off in length.[24] | Stems are about four inches (ten centimeters) thick. |
| Camel's Foot Climber, or Maloo (Bauhinia vahlii) Caesalpinaceae. | Himalayan foothills. | About 300abbr=offNaNabbr=off.[25] | Also up to a meter (3.25 feet) thick.[26] Among the most massive of vines. |
| "Jungle Chocolate" or "Malombo" (Landolphia mannii) Apocynaceae. | Congo-Brazzaville | Over 330 feet ("More than 100 meters")[27] | Stem a foot thick near the base. |
| Dinochloa andamanica (Gramineae, or Poaceae) | Andaman Islands and Nicobar Islands south of Burma. | 295abbr=offNaNabbr=off[28] | One of the few vining bamboo species, and the longest bamboo culm. |
| Embelia pergamina (Myrsinaceae). | Mountains of Java. | Up to 250abbr=offNaNabbr=off.[29] | Some classifications now place Embelia in the Primula Family (Primulaceae). |
| "Giant Pepper Vine" (Piper novae-hollandiae) (Piperaceae). | Queensland rainforest, Australia. | 230abbr=offNaNabbr=off.[30] | Stem up to 16inches thick.[31] |
| "The Giant Kelp" (Macrocystis pyrifera) (Laminariaceae). | The Pacific coasts of the Americas plus New Zealand, Tasmania and, in the Atlantic, around the Falkland Islands. | 230abbr=offNaNabbr=off.[32] | Longest member of the Kelp division or phylum (Phaeophycophyta), and longest aquatic vine. This specimen also weighed 308lb.[33] |
| Triphyophyllum peltatum (Dioncophyllaceae). | Tropical West Africa. | Up to 230abbr=offNaNabbr=off.[34] [35] | This is the most massive carnivorous plant known, being thicker and woodier than Nepenthes. |
| Vanilla Orchid (Vanilla planifolia) (Orchidaceae). | Southern Mexico, Central America, northern South America, the West Indies and Florida. | Between 200 and 300 feet (between 61 and 91 meters).[36] [37] | Longest of the 18,000 (lumper estimate) to 35,000 (splitter estimate) species of orchids, and the longest herbaceous vine. Stem is about three-quarters inch (19 mm) thick. |
| "Shicsi Huaiu" (Gnetum leyboldii) [Gnetaceae]. | Central America. This one at the Finca la Selva Reserve, Costa Rica. | Climbing to the top of a 170feet emergent tree; its total length probably around 200abbr=offNaNabbr=off.[38] | This is the longest Gymnosperm vine (division or phyllum Gymnophyta). The stem was as thick as the finder's thigh. |
| Mullerochloa moreheadiana Gramineae or Poaceae | Queensland rainforests. | Up to two hundred feet (sixty meters)[39] | Another lianous bamboo. |
| "Poison Oak" (Rhus (or Toxicodendron) diversiloba radicans) (Anacardiaceae). | Temperate North America. This one in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, Del Norte County, California. | 180abbr=offNaNabbr=off.[40] [41] | This is the longest root climber. This one was climbing a Coast Redwood and was 3inches thick. |
| Nepenthes hispida (Nepenthaceae). | Sarawak and Brunei in Malaysian Borneo. | 165abbr=offNaNabbr=off,[42] | |
| "Copa de Oro" (Solandra maxima) (Solanaceae). | Southern Mexico. | 165abbr=offNaNabbr=off.[43] | Has huge funnelform flowers up to 9inches long and 10inches wide, which are golden with five radial brown stripes. |
| Tangle Fern (Gleichenia longissima) (Gleicheniaceae) | Tropical Asia, The East Indies and Queensland | Each clambering frond up to 165abbr=offNaNabbr=off in length by about 10feet wide.[44] [45] | Each scrambling branch is actually a single leaf which keeps lengthening in spurts until it reaches its physiological limits, which are not presently known. This is the widest rosette of leaves in the world; up to 330abbr=offNaNabbr=off in breadth. |
| Gnetum wrayii Gnetaceae | Endemic to Malay Peninsula. | Up to 150abbr=offNaNabbr=off.[46] | |
| Giant Granadilla (Passiflora quadrangularis) Passifloraceae. | Widespread in the Neotropics. | Can climb to a height of 150abbr=offNaNabbr=off.[47] | |
| Teratophyllum aculeatum (Dennstaedtiaceae) | Widespread in the East Indies. | 140abbr=offNaNabbr=off.[48] | Longest fern vine (Phylum or Division Pteridophyta). |
| Poison Arrow Vine (Strophanthus sarmentosus) Apocynaceae | West and Central Africa. | Up to 131.25abbr=offNaNabbr=off[49] | |
| "Bull Kelp" (Nereocystis luetkeana) (Laminariaceae). | Pacific coast of North America. This one offshore from Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. | A measured length of 134.5abbr=offNaNabbr=off[50] | Others at Yakutat Bay, Alaska were estimated to be 165 feet (fifty meters) in length.[51] |
| "Madeira-vine" (Anredera cordifolia) (Basellaceae). | Northern South America. | Up to 131abbr=offNaNabbr=off | |
| Galeola altissima [[[Orchidaceae]] ]. | East Indies, Malay Peninsula and Queensland. | Up to 130abbr=offNaNabbr=off[52] [53] | Tallest saprophyte and tallest monocot root climber. It is asserted that Galeola can grow as much as a yard (0.9 meters) in a day.[54] |
| Mange-Mange (Lygodium articulatum) | Endemic to North Island, New Zealand. | Up to one hundred feet (thirty meters) in height.[55] | "Climbs to the tops of forest trees" |
| Ulan-ulan Cuscuta reflexa (Cuscutaceae). | Southern Asia and the East Indies. | About 100abbr=offNaNabbr=off, with hanging garlands up to 33 feet (ten meters) in length.[56] | The longest parasitic vine. |
| Dolichandra unguis-cati (Bignoniaceae). | Tropical dry forest of Central America, South America and the Caribbean | Over 98abbr=offNaNabbr=off[57] | |
| Wisteria (Fabaceae). | China, Korea, Japan, and the Eastern United States | Up to 98abbr=offNaNabbr=off[58] | |
| Virginia Creeper Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Vitaceae). | Eastern and central North America, southeastern Canada, eastern Mexico and Guatemala. | Up to 65to[59] [60] | |
| Thunbergia grandiflora (Acanthaceae). | South Asia and southeastern Asia. | Up to 65abbr=offNaNabbr=off[61] | |
| Selaginella exaltata [Selaginellaceae]. | Native from Panama to western Brazil. | Up to 59abbr=offNaNabbr=off[62] | Longest member of the Clubmoss Division or Phylum (Lycophyta). |
| Ipomoea indica [Convolvulaceae]. | Native from Florida in the United States south to Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean and to South America. | More than 49abbr=offNaNabbr=off if climbing trees[63] | |
| Elephant Vine or Vegetable Python (Fockea multiflora) Asclepiadaceae | East Africa and South Africa. | Up to 49abbr=offNaNabbr=off in length by up to 24 inches (60 centimeters) thick at its lower end.[64] | Longest succulent vine. |
| Giant Horsetail (Equisetum giganteum) [Equisetaceae]. | Widespread in the New World tropics. | Up to 36abbr=offNaNabbr=off high in Venezuela.[65] Up to 39abbr=offNaNabbr=off in the Pantanal region of Brazil.[66] | Longest member of the Horsetail Division or Phylum (Siphonophyta). |
| Balloon vine (Cardiospermum grandiflorum) [Sapindaceae]. | Eastern Argentina and Brazil. | 33abbr=offNaNabbr=off high or more, especially when it grows rapidly into treetops.[67] | |
| Cairo morning glory (Ipomoea cairica) [Convolvulaceae]. | Tropical Africa and Asia | Variable; can establish within tree canopy over 33abbr=offNaNabbr=off high.[68] | |
| Spiridens reinwardtii (Hypnodendraceae). | East Indies, Melanesia and Taiwan. This one in New Guinea. | Climbing to a height of about ten feet (three meters)[69] | If climbing at an angle of 45 degrees, actual length would be about 14feet. This is the longest member of the Moss Division or Phylum (Bryophyta), and the only true vine among mosses. |
