Hedera rhombea (Hedera rhombea)

Description

“Pet poisonous” – Toxic parts:entire plant esp. leaves, berries Hedera rhombea, the Japanese ivy or songak, is a species of ivy (genus Hedera) which is native to the coast of East Asia and some islands of east Asia. It is a plant of botanical family Araliaceae. Formerly named Hedera pedunculata, some sub-species could be subsequently classified as a distinct species. It is quite common, and lives in slopes rock, soil, trunks of trees especially in Laurel forest, a type of cloud forest. Hedera rhombea from Japan, South Korea, coast of northern Korea, islands between Korea and Japan, coast of China and Taiwan Island, is an evergreen climbing plant, growing to 10 m high where suitable surfaces (trees, cliffs, walls) are available, and also growing as ground cover where there are no vertical surfaces. It climbs by means of aerial rootlets which cling to the substrate. It is an evergreen wood vine or shrub or bush perennial climbing 10 m length, with aerial roots. Stems are green, poisonous if eaten and having irritating sap. The leaves of Hedera rhombea are medium green, rhombic diamond shaped leaves that give to H. rhombea its Latin name. Leaves have petiole, is glossy and dark green. The bisexual flowers are yellow-green having 4-5 ㎜ diameter. Different kinds of flowers, small, greenish-yellow, gathered in large numbers in erect umbrellas, and the fruits, ripens in black, having round shape. It is cultivated in gardens and used in floral arrangements. In trade, the plant is not found, it seems not to be in the 2008 PPP index, the online Plant Finder for Europe by Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart. Nevertheless, without further information it is listed as 2008 Hedera rhombea f. pedunculata in the website ZipcodeZoo, Bay Science Foundation, Inc., USA. The checklists on the Internet wiedersprüchliche give details of the correct name. 2005/2010 will be used in the International Plant Names Index (IPNI) Hedera pedunculata, while in 2006 Catalogue of Life - Annual Checklist viewed, Hedera pedunculata as a synonym of var rhombea rhombea, also in 2010 Global Biodiversity Information Facility. All in all, are not information describing the ivy and to emphasize the difference between H. rhombea rhombea and H.rhombea formosana.