It’s botanical Imperialism! Hedera helix, of the family Aralaiceae, traveled with the colonizers from Northern Europe and the UK to far flung parts of the world, becoming an invasive weed where the climate and soil provide optimum conditions.
The Ivy league, where proper elites of the U.S. can learn osmotically that colonialism is all evil, all the time, is not actually named after this plant, even though it has crawled up the walls of so many of their old buildings. (Their name supposedly has something to do with their athletic coalition, and it stuck - just like the plant.) This red brick wall is definitely not a structure of the Ivy League :-D
At weedom, we don’t know how to be fashionably correct, nor politically correct. So let’s celebrate this weed! The cool weather after a drought is as good a time as any to extol the virtues of one of the most rampant botanical colonizers. Since we can’t really get rid of it, we should put it to good use.
English ivy is a distant relative to ginseng, so it has to be good for something besides the gradual melting of institutional edifices. We had ignored the medicinal qualities of our weed until finding it as an ingredient in numerous over the counter medicinal products, some of which are formulated for little kids.
This perennial plant prefers somewhat acidic soil, pH 6.5 or so, and has taken over the eastern portion of the U.S., as well as the northern half of the Western coastal states, where it has been designated as invasive. It occupies USDA hardiness zones 4-13 almost anywhere in the world that’s not a desert. Some argue that there are 12 species in the Hedera genus, and others consider them to be subspecies. Some consider the larger leaved H. Hibernica to be a separate species, and others think it might be a subspecies with doubled chromosomes, or a hybrid. Leaf hairs (trichomes) of H. helix are stellate and perpendicular to the leaf surface while those of H. Hibernica are parallel to the surface. Since Hedera helix is a garden plant, there are a hundred or more cultivars with differing growth habits and invasiveness. The younger plants are said to be the major tree climbers, while the older plants can form sizable, short trunks and stems up to 10 inches (25 cm.) in diameter with lifespans said to be up to 400 years.
Innumerable references supply instructions for ivy removal and herbicidal control with such compounds as triclopyr and glysophate. The most fearsome of herbicides do little to this plant if sprayed on the topside of leaves, because of their thick waxy coating. At weedom, we prefer physical removal and trimming, and mowing. Trees can be extricated by clipping all the vines at the ground and allowing die off. Ivy is not a parasite of trees, but may stress them during windy seasons by their sheer weight and extra mass of leaves.
Under happy conditions, English Ivy leaves are a bright green with a glossy finish on the upper side. As they age, the waxy cuticle becomes semigloss, the color darkens to hunter green and the veins lighten to almost white. Palmately veined leaves often have three lobes, but sometimes not. Larger leaves might have 5 lobes. The underside takes on a wholly different color, as seen below. Note also that this stem has short hairs, and roots which allow it to spread on the ground or to climb the walls. Leaves of our weed are generally less than 3 inches ( 8 cm) with 3 prominent lobes, though your eyes might see 5 lobes. Our weeds are low growing on the ground, strictly on the north facing side of the abode, so we have seen none of the flowering and fruiting that occurs in more sunny conditions as on the vines which climb high in the trees. Leaves on those flowering stems can assume a larger, more ovate shape.
Greenish yellow flowers and berries generally appear on upper stems as they reach for the sun. They appear on an umbel or compound umbel, with each bloom bearing 4-5 petals. Flowering occurs in late summer to fall, providing a late source of nectar or pollen for the birds and bees. No toxicity from ivy has been associated with human use of the honey. Fruits are drupes, 6-9 mm. in diameter, which turn from their initial green color to dark purplish black when they mature in the spring. Each produces 2-5 seeds, which require some kind of scarification (by passage through a bird from beak to cloaca, for example) to produce new plants. Ivy also spreads horizontally on the ground, and can be propagated by fragments of the roots. At the UK Woodland Trust, they love their ivy, and have some good pics of the flowers and fruits for you.
Numerous references shriek about the poisonous potential of ivy. In reality, there is an allergic, or topical sensitization potential of this plant that may affect about 1 in 10000 people, and eating the berries is likely to cause considerable distress to humans, though other species can enjoy them. Though deer may forage on the leaves of plant, the (soapy) 8% saponins (found in dried leaf) will induce nausea and diarrhea if eaten by humans in quantity, and likely no one would want to, on account of the flavor. An online search of vids produces a couple in the UK who make ivy leaf laundry soap that seems to do the job. From various sources it seems that a decoction produced by boiling hundred or so chopped, fresh leaves in water for 15 minutes can be used to do about 3 loads of laundry. So if you ever run out of detergent…
Considering that the aqueous extractions are a way to make laundry soap, English ivy is not going to be your cup of tea. Saponins are not well absorbed from the GI tract, which presents a barrier to whole body toxicity (e.g. hemolysis), and mainly GI upset and diarrhea are how you know you’ve had too much.
Ivy’s multi-millennial place in traditional medicine has included uses for inflammation, fever, arthritis, smooth muscle spasms, all manner of respiratory applications, toothache, and wound care.
Our pharmacognosy friends in Egypt found that English ivy contains numerous of the usual flavonoid suspects (such as quercetin, kaempferol, astragalin, isorhamnetin glucoside) and phenolic acids (such as quinic acid protocatechuic acid, p-coumaric acid, caffeic acid, caffeoylquinic acids) to be applicable for inflammations such as that seen in rheumatoid arthritis. They extracted the dried, finely ground ivy leaves with 70% ethanol, and dried this extract to a powder. This was then dissolved in methanol, and a saponin rich fraction was precipitated out by chilling and adding acetone, with the filtrate (liquid) retaining more of the flavonoids. They found the majority of anti-inflammatory activity in their rat model of rheumatoid arthritis to be attributable to the flavonoid rich filtrate, (although saponin compounds have also been found to assist somewhat in the secondary stage of inflammation in which beginning of collagen repair occurs).
The triterpenoid saponin, α-hederin, has been found in the leaves of English ivy, (and is also found in black cumin, Nigella sativa, seeds. Studies reveal potential for anticancer activity, inducing apoptosis by various mechanisms, but its most discussed activity is on the tissues of the respiratory tract.
The main, commercial use of ivy in recent years is as an expectorant and for alleviation of cough and bronchospasm. Over the counter respiratory products that contain ivy extracts abound, and the European Medicines Agency rated them as usable for humans 2 years and older. The effectiveness in respiratory conditions has been credited to α-hederin’s indirect influence on β2 adrenergic receptors in the airway and alveoli. It is believed to suppress internalization of these receptors, leaving them more available to adrenergic stimulation. It thereby indirectly supports bronchodilation and the relief of smooth muscle spasms. Increase of surfactant production in the alveoli is also thought to contribute to expectorant effects. The mucolytic action of commercial preparations from dried ivy leaves has been studied in humans, and compared favorably to acetylcysteine and ambroxol.
Ivy leaf extracts have had historical application for the treatment of wounds and skin ulcers. Polyacetylenes, falcarinol and didehydrofalcarinol from English ivy are topical irritants also found in the carrots celery parsnips, ginseng and Schefflera species. This class of compounds, which have demonstrated chemopreventative and cytotoxic qualities, ties Hedera species to the Panax species of ginsengs. These and related compounds also exhibit antifungal and antibacterial activity, and serve as protection for the plants from bacterial and fungal attack. They function as plant protection from insects as well.
To avoid too much of a good thing, a middle -range total daily dose of English ivy, could be regarded as whatever is extracted with a hydroethanolic solution, from about 420 mg of dry plant material, with the total daily dose for a child > 2 years old being half (extract of 210 mg dry plant material). So one could extract about 3 grams of dried, finely ground, ivy leaves with an ethanolic solution, and whatever total volume of liquid can be strained out could become a 7 day supply for an adult or for 2 kids.
Many commercial preparations start with (30-60%) hydroethanolic extraction of dry ivy leaves, and the solution is evaporated off to produce a dry product. That becomes the starting material for whatever final solution or syrup which is sold with various additives to make it palatable, and keep it preserved. There are also standardized products obtained from patented procedures from larger pharmaceutical producers. Surely these products have become big business because English ivy has a flavor issue :-D
An EMA assessment report repeatedly describes an approximate 15% yield of dried material from hydroethanolic extractions of English Ivy used in the products sold in Europe, (as did the Egyptian pharmacognosy friends mentioned above. ) In that same 2015 EMA report were adult total daily doses as high as the equivalent of more than a gram of dried plant material.
Since English ivy is an evergreen weed in most locations, you and your calculator likely have the ability to create your own cough relief during the cold season, should you decide not to pay $$ for the commercial products or to add demulcent ingredients to the mix.
Where We Dig
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2. Lang C, Röttger-Lüer P, Staiger C. A Valuable Option for the Treatment of Respiratory Diseases: Review on the Clinical Evidence of the Ivy Leaves Dry Extract EA 575®. Planta Med. 2015;81(12-13):968-974. doi:10.1055/s-0035-1545879
3. Gaillard Y, Blaise P, Darré A, Barbier T, Pépin G. An unusual case of death: suffocation caused by leaves of common ivy (Hedera helix). Detection of hederacoside C, alpha-hederin, and hederagenin by LC-EI/MS-MS. J Anal Toxicol. 2003;27(4):257-262. doi:10.1093/jat/27.4.257
4. Shokry AA, El-Shiekh RA, Kamel G, Bakr AF, Sabry D, Ramadan A. Anti-arthritic activity of the flavonoids fraction of ivy leaves (Hedera helix L.) standardized extract in adjuvant induced arthritis model in rats in relation to its metabolite profile using LC/MS. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy. 2022;145:112456. doi:10.1016/j.biopha.2021.112456
5. Assessment report on Hedera helix L., folium. https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/herbal-report/superseded-assessment-report-hedera-helix-l-folium-revision-1_en.pdf
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8. English Ivy Benefits, Uses, Supplements, Dosage and Side Effects- Dr. Axe. Accessed December 17, 2024. https://draxe.com/nutrition/english-ivy-benefits/
9. ARMNed. English Ivy, a Deadly Invasive, is a Winter Target for Removal from Local Parks. Arlington Regional Master Naturalists. March 6, 2023. Accessed December 17, 2024. https://armn.org/2023/03/05/english-ivy-a-deadly-invasive-is-a-winter-target-for-removal-from-local-parks/
10. Hahn’s Self Branching English Ivy - Hedera helix | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox. Accessed December 17, 2024. https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/hedera-helix/common-name/hahns-self-branching-english-ivy/
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A fascinating, deep dive on English Ivy, thank you! I’ve been searching for solid information about the topical “poisonous” nature of the plant, as I use it for basketry. I will soon be teaching with this plant so it’s good to read that the skin irritation potential is actually very low.