Thread: Ivy question
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Old 01-08-2009, 02:51 PM
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Monkey Orchid Monkey Orchid is offline
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Re: Ivy question

Where the flowers and hence berries form will depend on what the ivy is growing on. When I've seen ivy growing along a wall, flowers and berries will form in the outer layers of the vegetative growth (i.e. on the terminal parts of the plant, as noted by ceterach). If growing on a tree in a shady woodland, flowers and berries will usually form higher up where the top parts of the plant have grown towards the light. If on a tree in a hedgerow, you will get flowers and berries lower down.

Ivy flowers are an important nectar source for many insects: I've seen ivy-covered walls and trees in the autumn literally humming with hoverflies, bees, butterflies and wasps. Holly blue butterflies use the flowers as egg-laying sites (an important thing to remember when planning any ivy-trimming operations).

The purplish-black berries are toxic to humans but relished by birds, including blackbirds, thrushes, blackcaps, warblers, robins and woodpigeons. According to the RSPB, the dried pith of ivy berries contains nearly as many calories as Mars bars!

As you can see from the web page I've linked below, there are a lot of different ornamental ivy varieties grown for gardeners:
Ivy varieties

but I'd agree with ceterach: your picture does look like 'bog standard' English ivy Hedera helix to me.
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