Vines and lianas belong to more than 110 families of vascular plants (nearly one-quarter of the total). Therefore, climbing plants are excellent examples of convergent evolution, i.e., having the same basic design that evolved repeatedly in unrelated groups. Most examples are in the dicotyledons, but climbing plants have also evolved in numerous families of monocotyledons, for example:
Among the extant (currently living) gymnosperms, certain lianaceous species of Gnetum and a few species of Ephedra are woody climbers, but these are very atypical gymnosperms.
Among the ferns and fern allies, there are several genera with species that are vines, e.g., Hymenophyllum, Lygodium, Dicranopteris, and Selaginella.
Returning to the dicotyledons, there are herbaceous families have numerous genera and species that are climbers, such as the gourds (Family Cucurbitaceae) and morning glories (Family Convolvulaceae), but erect, woody lifeforms also occur in these families. Predominantly woody families tend to have lianas (e.g., Malpighiaceae, Menispermaceae, Vitaceae, and Bignoniaceae), rather than herbaceous vines. Hence, the woody dogbanes (Family Apocynaceae) tend to have lianas (e.g., Mandevilla) whereas the closely related milkweeds (Family Asclepiadaceae) tend to have vines (e.g., Ceropegia, Sarcostemma, Araujia, Cynanchum, and Matelea). The very obvious exception are the legume families, in which there are many common vines and lianas on each continent, and the climbing lifeform has evolved repeatedly within this important lineage of plants.