Girl, I gathered, finds something creepy in the forest (5)

I believe the answer is:

liana

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'gathered finds something creepy in the forest' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.

'girl i' is the wordplay.
'girl' becomes 'lian' ().
'i' becomes 'a'.
'lian'+'a'='LIANA'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for liana that I've seen before include "Rainforest climber" , "Tropical vine" , "Jungle creeper" , "climber in the tropics" , "Woody climbing (usually tropical) plant" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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