WHAT TO SPOT
Natural wonders to watch out for this week…
As trees start coming into leaf, I wanted to pay tribute to an evergreen stalwart before it becomes swallowed up in the profusion of spring for good.
Ivy is one of the great unsung heroes in our landscape, equipped with specialised hairs that help it stick to surfaces as it climbs, and providing a vital source of food and shelter for wildlife throughout winter.
Often it is overlooked, or worse, maligned. Ivy, which can swirl up mature trees in beautiful eddies as high as 30m off the ground, is blamed for being a parasitic plant, although that is not so, as the ivy possesses its own root system.
Ivy is also condemned as a plague on our houses, but a study conducted by the Royal Horticultural Society found it was something of a miracle plant – able to reduce indoor temperatures by 7C (45F) in summer, while also keeping buildings less humid in winter months.
Research by English Heritage has shown that ivy can even help preserve stonework. However, in some dilapidated buildings, aerial roots of the plant can establish in cracks.
And while I am launching my defence, do not even dare besmirch it with talk of poison ivy – that is a North American plant with no connection to our own harmless native species.
Ivy to wildlife is like the corner shop that never closes. It begins to flower in late summer producing small nectar-rich umbels, which are highly attractive to pollinating insects such as bees. More than 100 invertebrates rely on ivy as a food plant: moths including dotted chestnut and the herald, hoverflies and, in particular, the ivy bee, which colonised Britain in the early 1990s and is spreading.
The high fat content of its berries keeps the likes of thrushes, blackcaps, wood pigeons and blackbirds going throughout the coldest months until more food becomes available.
In my own house, ivy serves a third nourishing role, as I regularly snip a few branches off a plant to feed to the stick insects living in my kitchen.
Nowadays, ivy is primarily regarded as a Christmas plant, thanks to the carol The Holly and the Ivy. However, that is a fairly recent association as the complete text of the carol did not appear until 1911.
In fact, its roots go back far deeper in our culture. Centuries ago, ivy was seen as powerful during the leafless days of winter, with sprigs taken inside to keep evil spirits at bay. Most ancient beliefs focused on the magical healing properties of the plant, in particular on grazing livestock with garlands fed to ailing animals. According to the botanist Trevor Dines, on some Shropshire farms, a piece of ivy would be fed to every animal before midday on Christmas morning to keep away the devil.
The Romans believed that wearing a wreath of ivy leaves around one’s head before embarking on a drinking session would prevent a person from getting too legless. The Roman god Bacchus, the god of intoxication, was often depicted wearing a wreath of ivy and grapevines.
Similarly, ivy was also regarded as a symbol of intellectual achievement in ancient Rome – with wreaths used to crown winners of poetry contests. Spot it clambering up old buildings and trees, dark glossy green and cream leaves regardless of the time of year. For this plant is a true survivor, ingrained in our history.