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{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = ''Hedera helix''
| image = Hedera_helix.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption =
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Apiales]]
| familia = [[Araliaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Hedera]]''
| species = '''''H. helix'''''
| binomial = ''Hedera helix''
| binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
}}
'''''Hedera helix''''' (species name from [[Ancient Greek]] "twist, turn"), also called '''Ivy''', '''Common Ivy''', or '''English Ivy''' is a species of [[ivy]] native to most of [[Europe]] and southwest [[Asia]]. It is an [[evergreen]] climbing plant, growing to 20-30 m high where suitable surfaces ([[tree]]s, [[cliff]]s, [[wall]]s) are available, and also growing as ground cover where there are no vertical surfaces. It holds on to tree bark and rock by means of short adhesive rootlets. The ''helix'' part of the name refers to where there are spirals in the leaves.
[[Image:Hadera helix.jpg|left|thumb|Lobed juvenile leaves on climbing stems]]
The [[leaf|leaves]] are alternate, 4-8 cm long, with a 3-10 cm long petiole; they are of two types, with palmately five-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 top of rock faces. The [[flower]]s are produced from late summer until late autumn, individually small, in 3-5 cm diameter umbels, greenish-yellow, and very rich in [[nectar]], an important late food source for [[bee]]s and other insects; the [[fruit]] are small black berries ripening in late winter, and are an important food for many [[bird]]s, though [[poison]]ous to humans. The [[seed]]s are dispersed by birds eating the fruit.
Plants in southeast Europe and southwest Asia ([[Greece]], [[Turkey]]) are treated as a distinct [[subspecies]] ''Hedera helix'' subsp. ''poetarum'', differing in orange ripe fruit.
The closely related species ''[[Hedera canariensis]]'' and ''[[Hedera hibernica]]'' are often treated as varieties or subspecies of ''H. helix'' (Flora Europaea), though they differ in [[chromosome]] number so do not [[hybrid]]ise readily (McAllister 1982). ''H. helix'' can be best distinguished by its usually smaller and slightly more deeply lobed leaves and somewhat less vigorous growth, though identification is often not easy.
===Cultivation and uses===
[[Image:Hedera helix Leaves 3008px.jpg|left|thumb|Leaves of a variegated cultivar]]
[[Image:English Ivy Hedera helix Red Brick Wall 2892px.jpg|right|thumb|Ivy growing on a red brick wall]]
It is widely cultivated as an [[ornamental plant]], with numerous [[cultivar]]s selected for such traits as yellow, [[variegation|variegated]] or deeply lobed leaves, purple stems, and slow, [[dwarfing|dwarfed]] growth.
In [[North America]] (where it is often known as English Ivy), it has become [[naturalisation (biology)|naturalised]] and is sometimes considered an [[invasive species]], especially in the [[Pacific Northwest]] where the climate is similar to that in its native area. <br clear = left>
==Ethnomedical Uses==
*Leaves and berries are taken orally as an [[expectorant]] to treat cough and [[bronchitis]]{{Fact|date=February 2007}}. In 1597, the British herbalist [[John Gerard]] recommended water infused with ivy leaves as a wash for sore or watering eyes.<ref>{{Citation | last =Gerard | first =John | author-link = | last2 =Woodward | first2 =Marcus (ed.) | author2-link =
| title =Gerard's Herbal: The History of Plants | place= | publisher =Crescent Books
| year =1985 | location =New York | volume = | edition = | url = | doi = | ISBN = 0-517-464705 }}</ref>
==References and external links==
{{commons|Hedera helix}}
{{Reflist}}
*Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening''. Macmillan.
*McAllister, H. (1982). New work on ivies. ''Int. Dendrol. Soc. Yearbook'' 1981: 106-109.
*[http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/cgi-bin/nph-readbtree.pl/feout?FAMILY_XREF=&GENUS_XREF=Hedera+&SPECIES_XREF=helix&TAXON_NAME_XREF=&RANK= Flora Europaea: ''Hedera helix'']
*[http://www.ecoflora.co.uk/search_species2.php?plant_no=1280010010 Ecoflora: ''Hedera helix'']
*[http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=HEHE USDA Plants Profile: ''Hedera helix'']
*[http://www.garten.cz/e/en/381-english-ivy-hedera-helix/ Plant Encyclopedia: ''Hedera helix''] (Photos)
[[Category:Araliaceae]]
[[Category:Flora of Asia]]
[[Category:Flora of Europe]]
[[Category:Medicinal plants]]
| color = lightgreen
| name = ''Hedera helix''
| image = Hedera_helix.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption =
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Apiales]]
| familia = [[Araliaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Hedera]]''
| species = '''''H. helix'''''
| binomial = ''Hedera helix''
| binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
}}
'''''Hedera helix''''' (species name from [[Ancient Greek]] "twist, turn"), also called '''Ivy''', '''Common Ivy''', or '''English Ivy''' is a species of [[ivy]] native to most of [[Europe]] and southwest [[Asia]]. It is an [[evergreen]] climbing plant, growing to 20-30 m high where suitable surfaces ([[tree]]s, [[cliff]]s, [[wall]]s) are available, and also growing as ground cover where there are no vertical surfaces. It holds on to tree bark and rock by means of short adhesive rootlets. The ''helix'' part of the name refers to where there are spirals in the leaves.
[[Image:Hadera helix.jpg|left|thumb|Lobed juvenile leaves on climbing stems]]
The [[leaf|leaves]] are alternate, 4-8 cm long, with a 3-10 cm long petiole; they are of two types, with palmately five-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 top of rock faces. The [[flower]]s are produced from late summer until late autumn, individually small, in 3-5 cm diameter umbels, greenish-yellow, and very rich in [[nectar]], an important late food source for [[bee]]s and other insects; the [[fruit]] are small black berries ripening in late winter, and are an important food for many [[bird]]s, though [[poison]]ous to humans. The [[seed]]s are dispersed by birds eating the fruit.
Plants in southeast Europe and southwest Asia ([[Greece]], [[Turkey]]) are treated as a distinct [[subspecies]] ''Hedera helix'' subsp. ''poetarum'', differing in orange ripe fruit.
The closely related species ''[[Hedera canariensis]]'' and ''[[Hedera hibernica]]'' are often treated as varieties or subspecies of ''H. helix'' (Flora Europaea), though they differ in [[chromosome]] number so do not [[hybrid]]ise readily (McAllister 1982). ''H. helix'' can be best distinguished by its usually smaller and slightly more deeply lobed leaves and somewhat less vigorous growth, though identification is often not easy.
===Cultivation and uses===
[[Image:Hedera helix Leaves 3008px.jpg|left|thumb|Leaves of a variegated cultivar]]
[[Image:English Ivy Hedera helix Red Brick Wall 2892px.jpg|right|thumb|Ivy growing on a red brick wall]]
It is widely cultivated as an [[ornamental plant]], with numerous [[cultivar]]s selected for such traits as yellow, [[variegation|variegated]] or deeply lobed leaves, purple stems, and slow, [[dwarfing|dwarfed]] growth.
In [[North America]] (where it is often known as English Ivy), it has become [[naturalisation (biology)|naturalised]] and is sometimes considered an [[invasive species]], especially in the [[Pacific Northwest]] where the climate is similar to that in its native area. <br clear = left>
==Ethnomedical Uses==
*Leaves and berries are taken orally as an [[expectorant]] to treat cough and [[bronchitis]]{{Fact|date=February 2007}}. In 1597, the British herbalist [[John Gerard]] recommended water infused with ivy leaves as a wash for sore or watering eyes.<ref>{{Citation | last =Gerard | first =John | author-link = | last2 =Woodward | first2 =Marcus (ed.) | author2-link =
| title =Gerard's Herbal: The History of Plants | place= | publisher =Crescent Books
| year =1985 | location =New York | volume = | edition = | url = | doi = | ISBN = 0-517-464705 }}</ref>
==References and external links==
{{commons|Hedera helix}}
{{Reflist}}
*Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening''. Macmillan.
*McAllister, H. (1982). New work on ivies. ''Int. Dendrol. Soc. Yearbook'' 1981: 106-109.
*[http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/cgi-bin/nph-readbtree.pl/feout?FAMILY_XREF=&GENUS_XREF=Hedera+&SPECIES_XREF=helix&TAXON_NAME_XREF=&RANK= Flora Europaea: ''Hedera helix'']
*[http://www.ecoflora.co.uk/search_species2.php?plant_no=1280010010 Ecoflora: ''Hedera helix'']
*[http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=HEHE USDA Plants Profile: ''Hedera helix'']
*[http://www.garten.cz/e/en/381-english-ivy-hedera-helix/ Plant Encyclopedia: ''Hedera helix''] (Photos)
[[Category:Araliaceae]]
[[Category:Flora of Asia]]
[[Category:Flora of Europe]]
[[Category:Medicinal plants]]
