0361 



IVY. 



Family: CAPRIFOLIACEAE [Translator's note: now Araliaceae]. 

 Reproductive system: PENTANDRY, MONOGYNY. 



The common ivy, Hedera helix, Linn., is a creeping shrub that climbs on trees and 

 old walls by means of specialized tendrils. Sometimes it grows in the shape of a tree and 

 it holds itself up without any support. The leaves are petiolate, firm, and shiny. The lower 

 ones are lobed and angular; the upper ones that accompany the flowers are pointed ovals, 

 almost entire, with undulate margins, green above and whitish green underneath. The 

 flowers cluster in corymbs at the ends of the stems. The calyx has five teeth. The corolla 

 is whitish. Its five petals are oblong and fleshy; they alternate with five stamens with 

 versatile anthers that are bifurcate at the base. The ovary adheres to the calyx. It converts 

 to a berry with five compartments and contains five seeds. 



FLOWERS: in September and October. 



RANGE: France and part of Europe. 



Nomenclature. There's no agreement about the origin of the word Hedera. 

 Some think that it comes from the Latin edere, to consume, because it corrodes the walls 

 to which it's attached. Others believe that it's derived from the Celtic hedea, meaning 

 twine. German, der epheu, eppich eiwg. Dutch, klimop. Danish, vedbende. English, the 

 ivy. Italian, edera. Spanish, hiedra. Russian, bljustsch. Bohemian, brectan. Persian, 

 bjcullu. 



USES. In Egypt the ivy was consecrated to Osiris and given the name Chenosiris, 

 which according to Plutarch means plant of Osiris. The Greeks dedicated it to Bacchus 

 because it resembled the grapevine in the shape of its leaves and its clusters of fruit. 

 During Dionysian festivals to this god that fell in springtime when the foliage of the 

 grapevine hadn't fully developed, 



