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Tag Archives: Hedera helix

From flower to berry

02 Thursday Dec 2021

Posted by sconzani in plants

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Hedera helix, ivy, ivy berries, ivy flowers, winter berries

From its nectar-and-pollen-providing flowers to its luscious juicy berries for birds, Ivy is a wonder plant, and I read somewhere recently that it also hosts over 100 species of insect larvae. Amazing!

211202 ivy (1)
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211202 ivy (4)
211202 ivy (5)
211202 ivy (6)

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Incredible Ivy

10 Sunday Jan 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, insects, leaves, plants, winter

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Tags

Hedera helix, ivy, ivy berries, ivy flowers

I’m not sure I can subscribe to the ancient concept that wearing a wreath of ivy leaves around my head would stop me getting drunk but the leaves are certainly amazing and incredibly diverse in shape, form and colour. Juvenile leaves have between 3 and 5 lobes, while mature leaves have no lobes and can be shaped both like ovals and hearts.

210110 ivy leaf (1)
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And then there are the flowers, in bloom from September through to November and a source of food for more than 50 insect species, and the subsequent berries, ripe from November to January – or, until the berry-loving winter thrushes, finches, woodpigeons and other hungry birds gobble them all up. What an incredible plant ivy is!

210110 ivy flowers and berries (1)
210110 ivy flowers and berries (2)
210110 ivy flowers and berries (3)
210110 ivy flowers and berries (4)

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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