Scientific Name:
Hedera helix
Pronunciation:
HED-ur-uh HEE-licks
Common Name:
English ivy
Family Name:
Araliaceae
Plant Type:
Broadleaf evergreen, Ground cover, Indoor foliage plant, Invasive plant, Vine or climber
Key ID Features:
Invasive evergreen ground cover or climber that freely roots at leaf nodes; leaves alternate, mostly ovate (some almost triangular), most blades 6-10cm wide x 3-7cm wide, glossy; juvenile foliage 3-5 lobed; matue foliage unlobed, dark green (cultivars variegated mid-green/silver-gray variegation/white margins); flowers tiny, 5-lobed in yellow-green umbel clusters in fall; black drupes ripening in spring, about 7mm wide.
Habit:
Dense, Spreading
Form:
Climbing, Creeping / Mat-like, Mounded
Texture:
Medium
Mature Height:
5 - 7m
Mature Spread:
3 - 4m
Growth Rate:
Fast
Origin:
Europe, Garden origin
Hardiness Rating:
Zone 5: (-29 to -23 °C)
Exposure:
Full sun, Part sun/part shade, Filtered shade, Deep shade
Soil/Growing Medium:
Well-drained
Water Use:
Low
Landscape Uses:
Arbors or trellis, Attract beneficial insects, Attract birds, Container planting, Erosion control, Filler, Ground cover, Group or mass planting, Indoor plant, Rock garden, Winter interest
Additional Info:
Google. Over 400 cultivars varying in leaf colors (variegation), shape, and size. Cultivars on campus include H. 'Goldchild' and H. 'Glacier'.
Leaf Morphology:
Form:
Simple, Lobed
Arrangement:
Alternate
Texture/Venation:
Leathery, Pinnate venation, Palmate venation
Surfaces:
Lustrous, Pubescent
Colour in Summer:
Green, Dark-green
Colour in Fall:
Green, Red
Shapes:
Elliptic, Ovate
Apices:
Acute, Rounded, Truncate
Bases:
Cordate, Truncate
Margins:
Entire, Pinnately lobed
Additional Info:
Juvenile leaves form on creeping parts of plant are mostly lobed while mature leaf forms occur on climbing parts of plants are not
Inflorescence Type:
Umbel, Panicle-like
Flower Morphology:
Flowers perfect
Number Of Petals:
5
Corolla Shape:
Rotate/stellate
Ovary Position:
Inferior
Colour (petals):
Showy, Green-yellow
Flower Scent:
None
Flower Time at Peak:
Sep, Oct
Fruit Type:
Drupe
Fruit Colour:
Black (black for common subspecies but others may be orange to yellow when ripe)
Fruiting Time:
Mar, Apr
Additional Info:
Fruit insignificant
Bark Morphology:
Smooth
Bark or Stem Colour:
Brown
Organ Modifications:
Aerial or climbing roots, Rhizomes, not all subspecies produce rhizomes
Propagation:
Seed, Softwood cuttings, Layering
Optimal Temp.:
Low
Light Level:
Low
Maintenance:
Low
Pest Susceptibility:
Anthracnose, Bacterial leaf spot, Fungal leaf spot, Mites, Mold, Scale insects (Pest resistant, Disease resistant, Deer resistant, Rabbit resistant, Drought tolerant)
Specific Pests:
Course(s):
- CLT Training
- HORT 1155
- Level 1 Apprenticeship
Location(s):
- (CGW) Community Garden West : variegated
- (GAZ) GAZebo
- (GAZN) GAZebo North : cv. Glacier