English Ivy
Hedera helix
Found in persistent, established, and spreading around old home sites, in suburban woodlands and waste areas. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you
Not native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 82%
- Height
- 20–80.5 feet
- Spread
- 3–50 feet
- Light
- Dappled sunlight, Deep shade, Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Usually moist
Do not plant. Listed invasive in Virginia.
Plant this instead
Choose your county to list local plants first.
- Virginia CreeperParthenocissus quinquefolia
Published recommendation: NC State Extension, Forsyth County Center (Leslie Rose)
- Climbing HydrangeaHydrangea barbara
Published recommendation: Tennessee Invasive Plant Council (TN-IPC)
No recorded swaps for this county. Try the garden finder.
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Woody perennial
- Leaves
- Evergreen
- Bloom
- June to July
Recorded in 68 Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Forest or woodland where the source does not say how moist or dry.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 133 animals.
- Northern Saw-whet OwlAegolius acadicus
- Olive-sided FlycatcherContopus cooperi
- Orange-crowned WarblerVermivora celata
- Orchard OrioleIcterus spurius
- Prothonotary WarblerProtonotaria citrea
- Ring-necked DuckAythya collaris
- Ruffed GrouseBonasa umbellus
- Rusty BlackbirdEuphagus carolinus
- Song SparrowMelospiza melodia
- Spotted SandpiperActitis macularius
- Tree SwallowTachycineta bicolor
- VeeryCatharus fuscescens
- Wilson's SnipeGallinago delicata
- Wood DuckAix sponsa
- Yellow-crowned Night-heronNyctanassa violacea
- Yellow-throated WarblerDendroica dominica
- American CootFulica americana
- American Tree SparrowSpizella arborea
- Bank SwallowRiparia riparia
- Black-billed CuckooCoccyzus erythropthalmus
- Black-capped ChickadeePoecile atricapillus
- Black-throated Blue WarblerDendroica caerulescens
- Black-throated Green WarblerDendroica virens
- Blue-headed VireoVireo solitarius
Who uses this plant?
10CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Hedera
- Eulithis diversilineataLesser Grapevine Looper Moth
- Harrisina americanaGrapeleaf Skeletonizer Moth
- Megalographa bilobaBilobed Looper Moth
- Megalopyge opercularisSouthern Flannel Moth, Puss Caterpillar
- Orgyia leucostigmaWhite-Marked Tussock Moth
- Platynota flavedanaBlack-Shaded Platynota
- Platynota rostranaOmnivorous Platynota
- Pleuroprucha insulsariaCommon Tan Wave
- Spodoptera eridaniaSouthern Armyworm Moth
- Spodoptera ornithogalliYellow-Striped Armyworm Moth, Cotton Cutworm
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claimPlant details
- Family
- Araliaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 4a–13b
- Soil pH
- Acidic to alkaline
- Flower color
- Yellow or green
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth habit
- Spreads by runners
- Foliage color
- Green
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “June to July” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Yellow or green” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Foliage color · “Green” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth habit · “Spreads by runners” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth rate · “Moderate” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Hardiness · “Zones 4a–13b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “20–80.5 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs)
- Leaves · “Evergreen” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Woody perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Dappled sunlight (shade through upper canopy all day); Deep shade (less than 2 hours to no direct sunlight); Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Moist; Occasionally wet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil pH · “Acidic to alkaline” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “3–50 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | SNA |
|---|---|
| Global rank | GNR |
| VA status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Sources
- Virginia DCR invasive plant list
- Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
- USDA PLANTS
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications