Hedera helix is an evergreen flowering plant in the Ivy family, Araliaceae. It grows on walls, fences, tree trunks, fences, and also as a ground cover. Ivy is a popular ornamental plant in many landscape settings.
You can identify it by its glossy dark green leaves clustered on exposed stems typically found in tree trunks, fences, rocks, or sprawling on the ground.
English Ivy Classification
- Domain: Eukaryota
- Kingdom: Plantae
- Phylum: Spermatophyta
- Subphylum: Angiospermae
- Class: Dicotyledonae
- Order: Araliales
- Family: Araliaceae
- Genus: Hedera
- Species: Hedera helix
- Common Names: Ivy, Common Ivy, Branching Ivy, Atlantic Ivy, California Ivy, European Ivy, and Glacier Ivy
Nativity and Distribution
Hedera helix is native to Europe, Scandinavia, and Western Asia. It has since been introduced throughout Europe and:
- North America
- Australia
- North Africa
- South Africa
- China
- Japan
- Parts of South America
Physical Characteristics
- Leaves: Five-lobed, dark green, juvenile leaves and ovate light green mature leaves
- Fruits: Black to dark purplish or orange-yellow berries 6-9 mm wide
- Stems: Long, creeping or climbing, up to 30m
- Flowers: Small, 5-parted greenish-yellow flowers
- Roots: Creeping and adventitious roots
H. helix is a long-living climbing and creeping plant in the Ivy family that can grow up to 30m. It grows on walls, fences, tree trunks, fences, and also as a ground cover where surfaces are unavailable.
It is easily identified by its glossy dark green leaves clustered on exposed stems typically found in tree trunks, fences, rocks, or sprawling on the ground.
English ivy leaves occur in two forms. The juvenile leaves are evergreen, palmately lobed, with palmate venation, and found on creeping and climbing stems. Mature leaves are ovate, unlobed, glossy, and light green with a whitish-gray hue. They measure 8-10 cm long and 6-12 cm wide.
The stems are long, creeping or climbing, attached to the leaf nodes through numerous small roots, and grow between 20-30 m long. They are long-lived, some even attaining the age of 400 years.
Common Ivy produces small, greenish-yellow flowers about 3-5 cm wide. They are rich in nectar and are an important source of food for bees and other insects in late autumn.
The fruit is a conspicuous drupe, purple-black or orange-yellow, 6-9mm wide, containing 2-5 seeds.
Reproduction, Dispersal, and Life Cycle
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Seeds: Each drupe produces 2-5 seeds
- Climate: Temperate climate
- Dispersal: Animals, soil movement, poor disposal of plant clippings
English ivy behaves as a perennial, living many years in its native range. It mainly propagates vegetatively but can also reproduce by seeds.
The seeds are dispersed by birds that enjoy the berries like starlings, robins, and cedar waxwings. Poorly disposed vegetative material and surplus trimmings can easily root in new places leading to new growth.
Additionally, the movement of soil and transportation of logs bearing the ivy stems have resulted in the accidental dispersion of the plant to new regions.
Once the seeds germinate, the juvenile plant grows as a dense ground cover, spreading horizontally. This allows the ivy to rapidly cover large areas while eliminating other vegetation.
As the plant encounters vertical surfaces, it utilizes the adventitious roots to climb and attach. The rootlets secrete a nanocomposite adhesive that helps them to firmly attach to the surface, allowing them to ascend to far heights.
Similar Plants
- Hedera algeriensis
- Hedera colchica
- Parthenocissus quinquefolia
- Celastrus scandens
- Trachelospermum jasminoides
Uses
- English ivy is a popular ornamental plant in residential, commercial, and public landscaping.
- Its shallow roots are used to control soil erosion.
- Foliage extracts were used as traditional medicine for arthritis, rheumatism, toothache, and treatment of wounds.
- It is a popular pollinator plant, providing honey with an excellent flavor.
Impact on Farms and Environment
While Hedera helix may be an important ornamental plant, it can also be weedy and invasive, if it escapes to new areas. Its rapid and competitive growth allows it to cover forest floors and smother trees.
In parts of Australia and North America, it has been reported to reduce native plant diversity while endangering wildlife habitats respectively, creating “ivy deserts”.
Ivy is toxic to humans when the plant sap comes into contact with the skin. It causes itching, redness, and blisters. The berries and foliage are poisonous to pets and horses, causing throat burning, delirium, digestive problems, and diarrhea.
Control
- Mechanical control: Cut the aerial part of the plants, digging out the roots, and prescribed burning.
- Chemical control: Application of herbicides like glyphosate, metsulfuron, triclopyr, and 2,4-D.
Cutting the aerial part of the plant to prevent seed set and digging out the roots to prevent regrowth is a popular and effective method to remove ivy permanently. If located on the ground, pull the individual stems and dispose of them together with all the runners.
The key pointers to remember are, first, that you remove all fragments of the plants as they can regrow even from the smallest overlooked live shoot. Secondly, proper disposal of all plant fragments is essential to prevent re-infestation.
Repeated controlled burning depletes the plant’s resources, making another effective control strategy.
Chemical control is generally part of an integrated approach. Once you’ve cut the aerial vines at the base, immediately apply a herbicide like glyphosate, 2,4-D, or triclopyr combined with a surfactant on the remaining fragments for the best results.
Lead Editor for Insight Weeds.