Hedera helix
Environmental Weed (2024)
Common names
ivy
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Lianes & Related Trailing Plants - Dicotyledons
Flower colours
Green, Yellow
Detailed description
Perennial climber with stems woody, stout, becoming erect at flowering, attaching to support with aerial rootlets. Leaves alternate, hairless, dark green or variegated ivory-white, variable shaped (usually shallowly lobed), 3-15 cm long (leaves on flowering stems usually not lobed). Flowers tiny, insignificant, yellowish-green, Mar-May. Berries 5-8 mm diam, purple to black, usually with low viability.
Similar taxa
Not generally confused, but identifying to subspecies can be problematic, many different cultivars exist. Other Ivy species are easily separated. Boston ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata) is deciduous and foliage is often dark red. German ivy (Senecio mikaniodes) has thin leaves and yellow flowers in the winter. Cape ivy (Senecio angulatus) has thick fleshy leaves and yellow flowers. Fragrant ivy (Hedera colchica) is sometimes cultivated, this species is very similar to H. helix, but young shoots are always green, and the leaves are often very large and fragrant when crushed.
Habitat
Terrestrial. Forest understorey, shrubland, rocky cliffs, open areas where there is some support for its scrambling habit.
Conservation status
Not applicable
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Synonyms
Hedera helix L. subsp. helix
Ecology
Flowering
March, April, May
Fruiting
August, September, October, November, December
Year naturalised
1873
Origin
temp. Europe, Asia
Reason for introduction
Ornamental.
Tolerances
Tolerant to deep shade, severe frosts and high to low moisture.
Life cycle and dispersal
Perennial, long-lived and persists over time. Heteroblastic, with the lobed leaves and self-clinging stems juvenile. Adult foliage is usually produced in full sun and the leaves are more orbicular in shape and flowers and fruit are produced. Reproduces from seed. Ground trailing stems may also take root and a single node is capable of growing. Fruit is produced prolifically on mature stems. It is unclear at this stage whether subsp. canariensis produces fruit in NZ. Each fruit contains a 2-3 seeds. Fruit and seed dispersed by birds. also can spread extensively vegetatively, rooted stems can re-sprout after disturbance.
Other information
Etymology
hedera: From the ancient Latin name for ivy.
Environmental Weed (2024)
This plant is named in a list of 386 environmental weeds in New Zealand 2024 prepared by DOC. 759 candidate species were considered for inclusion on this new comprehensive list of environmental weeds in New Zealand. The species considered were drawn from published lists of weed species, lists of plants that must be reported or managed by law if observed, existing national and regional programmes and agreements for pest management, and species already managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC). Candidate species were then assessed to see if they were fully naturalised and whether they have more than minor impacts in natural ecosystems. Read the full report here.
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
HEDHEL