Hedera algeriensis Hibberd

Locations ofHedera algeriensis Hibberd in Virginia

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Detail

Family
Araliaceae
Botanical Name
Hedera algeriensis Hibberd
Common Name
Algerian Ivy
Synonym(s)
Hedera canariensis Willd. (misapplied)
Flora of Virginia Name/Status
Not in Flora of Virginia; discovered after its publication.
Comments
Native to Mediterranean Europe and northern Africa, this robust ivy is frequently cultivated in the Southeast and southwestern U.S. (AZ, TX, CA) and reported to be naturalizing in South Carolina, Florida, and California. The species has been confused with Hedera canariensis and often considered a variety of it (or vice-versa); however, Wen's treatment for FNA (in press) considers H. canariensis to be endemic to the Canary Islands and is rarely cultivated. Hedera algeriensis is also similar to Hedera colchica (K. Koch) K. Koch, the two being distinguished by leaf and trichome architecture (see Adansonia Series 3, 24[2]: 197-212 [2002]) . John Hayden (URV) has examined the Virginia specimens collected by Wright and his own specimens and determined that they all conform with H. algeriensis.
Habitat
Recently collected by Robert Wright in and near Richmond, by Maddy Stockman in Mechanicsville, and by John Hayden on a farm in Essex County. Large, well-established populations escaped into disturbed forests, borders, and hedgerows. While currently mapped only in Chesterfield, Hanover, and Essex Counties, iNaturalist records for "Hedera canariensis" (see above) suggest that this species is also escaping locally in far southeastern Virginia localities (Hampton, Norfolk, Chesapeake, and Virginia Beach). Rod Simmons reports that Jun Wen (Smithsonian) and Alan Whittemore (Morton Arboretum) discovered an escaped population in Northern Virginia.
Native Status
Introduced

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