''Hedera'', commonly called ivy (plural ivies), is a genus of 12–15 species of
evergreen
In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...
climbing or ground-creeping
woody plant
A woody plant is a plant that produces wood as its structural tissue and thus has a hard stem. In cold climates, woody plants further survive winter or dry season above ground, as opposed to Herbaceous plant, herbaceous plants that die back to t ...
s in the family
Araliaceae
The Araliaceae are a family of flowering plants composed of about 43 genera and around 1500 species consisting of primarily woody plants and some herbaceous plants commonly called the ginseng family. The morphology of Araliaceae varies widely ...
, native to
Western Europe
Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context.
The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...
,
Central Europe
Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...
,
Southern Europe
Southern Europe is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of southern Europe include some or all of these countries and regions: Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, C ...
,
Macaronesia
Macaronesia (; ) is a collection of four volcanic archipelagos in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlantic, North Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of North Africa and Europe. Each archipelago is made up of a number of list of islands in the Atlantic Oc ...
,
northwestern Africa and across central-southern
Asia
Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
east to
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
and
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
. Several species are cultivated as climbing ornamentals, and the name ''ivy'' especially denotes common ivy (''Hedera helix''), known in North America as "English ivy", which is frequently planted to clothe brick walls.
Description

On level ground ivies remain creeping, not exceeding 5–20 cm height, but on surfaces suitable for climbing, including
tree
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...
s, natural
rock outcrop
An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth and other terrestrial planets.
Features
Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most p ...
s or man-made structures such as
quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...
rock faces or built
masonry
Masonry is the craft of building a structure with brick, stone, or similar material, including mortar plastering which are often laid in, bound, and pasted together by mortar (masonry), mortar. The term ''masonry'' can also refer to the buildin ...
and
wood
Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...
en structures, they can climb to at least 30 m above the ground. Ivies have two
leaf
A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the plant stem, stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leav ...
types, with
palmate
The following terms are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade is divided into two or more leaflets ...
ly lobed juvenile leaves on creeping and climbing stems and unlobed cordate adult leaves on fertile flowering stems exposed to full sun, usually high in the crowns of trees or the tops of rock faces, from 2 m or more above ground. The juvenile and adult shoots also differ, the former being slender, flexible and scrambling or climbing with small aerial roots to affix the shoot to the substrate (rock or tree bark), the latter thicker, self-supporting and without roots. The
flower
Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...
s are greenish-yellow with five small petals; they are produced in
umbel
UMBEL (Upper Mapping and Binding Exchange Layer) is a logically organized knowledge graph of 34,000 concepts and entity types that can be used in information science for relating information from disparate sources to one another. It was retired ...
s in autumn to early winter and are very rich in
nectar
Nectar is a viscous, sugar-rich liquid produced by Plant, plants in glands called nectaries, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollination, pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to an ...
. The
fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...
is a greenish-black, dark purple or (rarely) yellow
berry
A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples of berries in the cul ...
5–10 mm diameter with one to five seeds, ripening in late winter to mid-spring. The seeds are dispersed by birds which eat the berries.
The species differ in detail of the leaf shape and size (particularly of the juvenile leaves) and in the structure of the leaf
trichome
Trichomes (; ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a plant ...
s, and also in the size and, to a lesser extent, the colour of the flowers and fruit. The
chromosome
A chromosome is a package of DNA containing part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes, the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with nucleosome-forming packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells, the most import ...
number also differs between species. The basic diploid number is 48, while some are tetraploid with 96, and others hexaploid with 144 and octaploid with 192 chromosomes.
[Ackerfield, J, & Wen, J. (2002). A morphometric analysis of Hedera L. (the ivy genus, Araliaceae) and its taxonomic implications. ''Adansonia'' sér. 3, 24: 197-212]
Full text.
Ecology
Ivies are natives of Eurasia and North Africa, but have been introduced to North America and Australia. They invade disturbed forest areas in North America.
Ivy seeds are spread by birds.
[
Ivies are of major ecological importance for their nectar and fruit production, both produced at times of the year when few other nectar or fruit sources are available.] The ivy bee ''Colletes hederae
''Colletes hederae'', the ivy bee, is a species of plasterer bee belonging to the family Colletidae subfamily Colletinae.
Taxonomy
These mining bees have been only recently described (Schmidt & Westrich 1993) as a distinct species. Until then ...
'' is completely dependent on ivy flowers, timing its entire life cycle around ivy flowering. The fruit are eaten by a range of birds, including thrushes, blackcap
The Eurasian blackcap (''Sylvia atricapilla'') is a bird usually known simply as the blackcap. It is a common and widespread typical warbler. It has mainly olive-grey upperparts and pale grey underparts, and differences across the five subspec ...
s, and woodpigeons. The leaves are eaten by the larva
A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...
e of some species of Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...
such as angle shades, lesser broad-bordered yellow underwing, scalloped hazel, small angle shades
The small angle shades (''Euplexia lucipara'') is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is distributed throughout the Palearctic. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''.
As the common name ...
, small dusty wave (which feeds exclusively on ivy), swallow-tailed moth and willow beauty.
A very wide range of invertebrates shelter and overwinter in the dense woody tangle of ivy.[ Birds and small mammals also nest in ivy. It serves to increase the surface area and complexity of woodland environments.
]
Taxonomy
The following species are widely accepted; they are divided into two main groups, depending on whether they have scale-like or stellate trichomes on the undersides of the leaves:
*Trichomes scale-like
**''Hedera algeriensis
''Hedera algeriensis'', the Algerian ivy, is a species of evergreen ivy native to the North African coast, including coastal mountains in Algeria.Verhaeghe, P. 2004. Clef des plantes sarmenteuses rustiques en Belgique. ''Taxonomania'' 11:1-26
D ...
'' Hibberd – Algerian ivy. Algeria, Tunisia (Mediterranean coast).
**'' Hedera canariensis'' Willd. – Canaries ivy. Canary Islands.
**'' Hedera colchica'' (K.Koch) K.Koch – Persian ivy. Alborz, Caucasus, Turkey.
**'' Hedera cypria'' McAllister – Cyprus ivy (syn. ''H. pastuchovii'' subsp. ''cypria'' (McAll.) Hand). Cyprus (Troodos Mts.)
**'' Hedera iberica'' (McAllister) Ackerfield & J.Wen – Iberian ivy. SW Iberian coasts.
**'' Hedera maderensis'' – Madeiran ivy. Madeira.
**'' Hedera maroccana'' McAllister – Moroccan ivy. Morocco.
**'' Hedera nepalensis'' K.Koch – Himalayan ivy (syn. ''H. sinensis'' (Tobl.) Hand.-Mazz.). Himalaya, SW China.
**'' Hedera pastuchovii'' G.Woronow – Pastuchov's ivy. Caucasus, Alborz.
**'' Hedera rhombea'' (Miq.) Siebold ex Bean – Japanese ivy. Japan, Korea, Taiwan.
*Trichomes stellate
**'' Hedera azorica'' Carrière – Azores ivy. Azores.
**'' Hedera crebrescens'' M. Bényei-Himmer et M. Höhn - Buda ivy. Central Europe
**'' Hedera helix'' L. – Common ivy (syn. ''H. caucasigena'' Pojark., ''H. taurica'' (Hibberd) Carrière). Europe, and widely introduced elsewhere.
**'' Hedera hibernica'' (G.Kirchn.) Bean – Atlantic ivy (syn. ''H. helix'' subsp. ''hibernica'' (G.Kirchn.) D.C.McClint.). Atlantic western Europe.
The species of ivy are largely allopatric
Allopatric speciation () – also referred to as geographic speciation, vicariant speciation, or its earlier name the dumbbell model – is a mode of speciation that occurs when biological populations become geographically isolated from ...
and closely related, and many have on occasion been treated as varieties or subspecies of ''H. helix'', the first species described. Several additional species have been described in the southern parts of the former Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, but are not regarded as distinct by most botanists.
Hybrids have been recorded between several ''Hedera'' species, including Atlantic ivy (''H hibernica'') with common ivy (''H helix'').[R H Marshall, H A McAllister & J D Armitage (2017), A summary of hybrids detected in the genus ''Hedera'' (Araliaceae) with the provision of three new names, ''New Journal of Botany'', 7:1, 2-]
/ref> Hybridisation may also have played a part in the evolution of some species in the genus. A well-known hybrid (biology), hybrid involving ivies is the intergeneric hybrid '' × Fatshedera lizei'', a cross between '' Fatsia japonica'' and ''Hedera hibernica''. This hybrid was produced once in a garden in France in 1910 and has never successfully been repeated, the hybrid being maintained in cultivation by vegetative propagation.[Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening'' 2: 60. Macmillan .][Metcalfe, D. J. (2005)]
Biological Flora of the British Isles no. 268 Hedera helix L.
''Journal of Ecology'' 93: 632–648.
Uses and cultivation
Ivies are very popular in cultivation within their native range and compatible climates elsewhere, for their evergreen foliage, attracting wildlife, and for adaptable design uses in narrow planting spaces and on tall or wide walls for aesthetic addition, or to hide unsightly walls, fences and tree stumps. Numerous cultivar
A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...
s with variegated foliage and/or unusual leaf shapes have been selected for horticultural use.
The American Ivy Society is the International Cultivar Registration Authority for ''Hedera'', and recognises over 400 registered cultivars.
Problems and dangers
On trees
Much discussion has involved whether or not ivy climbing trees will harm trees. In Europe, the harm is generally minor although there can be competition for soil nutrients, light, and water, and senescent trees supporting heavy ivy growth can be liable to windthrow
In forestry, windthrow refers to trees uprooted by wind. Breakage of the tree bole (botany), bole (trunk) instead of uprooting is called windsnap. Blowdown refers to both windthrow and windsnap.
Causes
Windthrow is common in all forested ...
damage. The UK's Woodland Trust says "Ivy has long been accused of strangling trees, but it doesn’t harm the tree at all, and even supports at least 50 species of wildlife." Harm and problems are more significant in North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
, where ivy is without the natural pests and diseases that control its vigour in its native continents; the photosynthesis or structural strength of a tree can be overwhelmed by aggressive ivy growth leading to death directly or by opportunistic disease and insect attacks.
Invasive exotic
Several ivy species have become a serious invasive species
An invasive species is an introduced species that harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native spec ...
(invasive exotic) in natural native plant habitat
In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...
s, especially riparian and woodland types, and also a horticultural weed
A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, growing where it conflicts with human preferences, needs, or goals.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. Pla ...
in gardens of the western and southern regions of North America with milder winters. Ivies create a dense, vigorously smothering, shade-tolerant evergreen groundcover that can spread through assertive underground rhizomes and above-ground runners quickly over large natural plant community areas and outcompete the native vegetation. The use of ivies as ornamental plant
Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...
s in horticulture in California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
and other states is now discouraged or banned in certain jurisdictions. Drought-tolerant ''H. canariensis'' and ''H. algeriensis'' and European ''H. helix'' were originally cultivated in garden, park, and highway landscaping, but they have become aggressively invasive in coastal forests and riparian ecosystems, now necessitating costly eradication programs. Similar problems exist in Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. Only one species of ivy, ''H. helix'' , bears the status of 'declared weed' in Australia; in the Australian Capital Territory, and Western Australia only.
Toxicity
The berries are moderately toxic to humans. Ivy foliage contains triterpenoid
Triterpenes are a class of terpenes composed of six isoprene units with the molecular formula C30H48; they may also be thought of as consisting of three terpene units. Animals, plants and fungi all produce triterpenes, including squalene, the pre ...
saponin
Saponins (Latin ''sapon'', 'soap' + ''-in'', 'one of') are bitter-tasting, usually toxic plant-derived secondary metabolites. They are organic chemicals that become foamy when agitated in water and have high molecular weight. They are present ...
s and falcarinol.
Falcarinol is capable of inducing contact dermatitis
Contact dermatitis is a type of acute or chronic inflammation of the skin caused by exposure to chemical or physical agents. Symptoms of contact dermatitis can include itchy or dry skin, a red rash, bumps, blisters, or swelling. These rashes ...
. It has also been shown to kill breast cancer cells.
Stinging insects
The flowers of ivy are pollinated by Hymenoptera
Hymenoptera is a large order of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are parasitic.
Females typi ...
and are particularly attractive to the common wasp.
Etymology and other names
The name ivy derives from Old English
Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
''ifig'', cognate with German ''Efeu'', of unknown original meaning. The scientific name ''Hedera'' is the classical Latin name for the plant. Old regional common names in Britain, no longer used, include "Bindwood" and "Lovestone", for the way it clings and grows over stones and bricks. US Pacific Coast
Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean.
Geography Americas North America
Countries on the western side of North America have a Pacific coast as their western or south-western border. One of th ...
regional common names for ''H. canariensis'' include "California ivy" and "Algerian ivy". For ''H. helix'', regional common names include "common ivy" (Britain and Ireland) and "English ivy" (North America).
The name ivy has also been used as a common name for a number of other unrelated plants, including Boston ivy (Japanese creeper ''Parthenocissus tricuspidata
''Parthenocissus tricuspidata'' is a species of flowering plant in the grape family (Vitaceae) native to eastern Asia (Korea, Japan, and northern and eastern China), where it thrives in floodplain bushes, riverside woodland and moist mountain m ...
'', in the family Vitaceae
The Vitaceae are a family of flowering plants, with 14 genera and around 910 known species, including common plants such as Vitis, grapevines (''Vitis'' spp.) and Parthenocissus quinquefolia, Virginia creeper (''Parthenocissus quinquefolia''). Th ...
), Cape-ivy (used interchangeably for '' Senecio angulatus'' and '' Delairea odorata'', Asteraceae
Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...
), poison-ivy (''Toxicodendron radicans
''Toxicodendron radicans'', commonly known as eastern poison ivy or poison ivy, is a species of allergenic flowering plant. It has numerous subtaxons and forms both vines and shrubs. Despite its common name, it is not a true ivy, but rather a m ...
'', Anacardiaceae
The Anacardiaceae, commonly known as the cashew family or sumac family, are a family of flowering plants, including about 83 genera with about 860 known species. Members of the Anacardiaceae bear fruits that are drupes and in some cases produce ...
), Swedish ivy (whorled plectranthus '' Plectranthus verticillatus'', Lamiaceae
The Lamiaceae ( )
or Labiatae are a family (biology), family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle, or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all parts and include widely used culinary herbs like basil (herb), ba ...
) and ground ivy ('' Glechoma hederacea'', also Lamiaceae), and Kenilworth ivy ('' Cymbalaria muralis'', Plantaginaceae
Plantaginaceae, the plantain family or veronica family, is a large, diverse family (biology), family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales that includes common flowers such as Antirrhinum, snapdragon and Digitalis, foxglove. It is unrelated ...
).
Cultural symbolism
Like many other evergreen plants, which impressed European cultures by persisting through the winter, ivy has traditionally been imbued with a spiritual significance. It was brought into homes to drive out evil spirits.[
In ]Ancient Rome
In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...
it was believed that a wreath of ivy could prevent a person from becoming drunk, and such a wreath was worn by Bacchus
In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ) by the Gre ...
, the god of intoxication.[
Ivy bushes or ivy-wrapped poles have traditionally been used to advertise taverns in the United Kingdom, and many pubs are still called The Ivy.
The clinging nature of ivy makes it a symbol of love and friendship, there was once a tradition of priests giving ivy to newlyweds,][ and as it clings to dead trees and remains green, it was also viewed as a symbol of the eternal life of the soul after the death of the body in medieval Christian symbolism.
The traditional British ]Christmas carol
A Christmas carol is a Carol (music), carol on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas and holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French or ...
, " The Holly and the Ivy", uses ivy as a symbol for the Virgin Mary
Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
.
Ivy-covered ruins were a staple of the Romantic movement in landscape painting, for example '' Visitor to a Moonlit Churchyard'' by Philip James de Loutherbourg (1790), ''Tintern Abbey, West Front'' by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1794) and ''Netley Abbey'' by Francis Towne (1809). In this context ivy may represent the ephemerality of human endeavours and the sublime power of nature.
The image of ivy-covered historic buildings gave the name Ivy League
The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...
to a group of old and prestigious American universities
A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
.
Ivy features extensively in the 2010 movie '' Arrietty'' and the poster for the film.
Gallery
File:Beroun, Hostim, popínavé rostliny v údolí říčky Loděnice-Kačák.JPG, ''Hedera helix'' on trees near Srbsko, Czech Republic
File:Hedera colchica0.jpg, ''Hedera colchica'' leaves and flowers
File:Hedera hibernica with berries.JPG, ''Hedera hibernica'' with berries
File:Ivy 77uf be.JPG, ''Hedera helix'' leaves, Bremerhaven
File:Hedera helix 003.JPG, ''Hedera helix'' flowers
See also
* Anjo Festival
* Bığbığ Ivy
* List of poisonous plants
Plants that cause illness or death after consuming them are referred to as poisonous plants. The toxins in poisonous plants affect herbivores, and deter them from consuming the plants. Plants cannot move to escape their predators, so they must ...
* NASA Clean Air Study
References
External links
Kew plant profiles: ''Hedera helix'' (common ivy)
*
*
{{Authority control
Apiales genera
Christmas plants
Flora of Africa
Flora of Europe
Garden plants of Africa
Garden plants of Europe
Groundcovers
Rhizomatous plants
Stoloniferous plants
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
Vines
Flora invasive in North America