Hedera rhombea
Encyclopedia
Hedera rhombea, or Japanese Ivy or Songak, is a species of Ivy
Ivy
Ivy, plural ivies is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern Africa and across central-southern Asia east to Japan and Taiwan.-Description:On level ground they...

 (genus Hedera) which is native to the coast of East Asia and some islands of east Asia. It is a plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...

 of botanical family
Family
In human context, a family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. In most societies it is the principal institution for the socialization of children...

 Araliaceae
Araliaceae
Araliaceae is a family of flowering plants, also known as the Aralia family or Ivy family. The family includes 254 species of trees, shrubs, lianas and perennial herbaceous plants into 2 subfamilies...

. Formerly named Hedera pedunculata, some sub-species could be subsequently classified as a distinct species. It is quite common, and lives in slope
Slope
In mathematics, the slope or gradient of a line describes its steepness, incline, or grade. A higher slope value indicates a steeper incline....

s rock, soil, trunks of tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...

s especially in Laurel forest
Laurel forest
Laurel forest is a subtropical or mild temperate forest, found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable and mild temperatures. They are characterized by tree species with evergreen, glossy, enlongated leaves, known as laurophyll or lauroide...

, a type of cloud forest
Cloud forest
A cloud forest, also called a fog forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical evergreen montane moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover, usually at the canopy level. Cloud forests often exhibit an abundance of mosses covering the ground and...

.

( Hedera rhombea) from Japan, South Korea, coast of norther Korea, islands between Korea and Japan, coast of China and Taiwan Island, is an evergreen
Evergreen
In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that has leaves in all seasons. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs...

 climbing plant, growing to 10 m high where suitable surfaces (tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...

s, cliff
Cliff
In geography and geology, a cliff is a significant vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure. Cliffs are formed as erosion landforms due to the processes of erosion and weathering that produce them. Cliffs are common on coasts, in mountainous areas, escarpments and along rivers. Cliffs are usually...

s, wall
Wall
A wall is a usually solid structure that defines and sometimes protects an area. Most commonly, a wall delineates a building and supports its superstructure, separates space in buildings into rooms, or protects or delineates a space in the open air...

s) 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
Shrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...

 or bush
Bush
-Nouns:* Shrub, a type of woody plant, smaller than normal trees. Usually grows in the soil. Most bushes are low to the ground and have branches which rise up from the bottom of the plant....

 perennial climbing
Climbing
Climbing is the activity of using one's hands and feet to ascend a steep object. It is done both for recreation and professionally, as part of activities such as maintenance of a structure, or military operations.Climbing activities include:* Bouldering: Ascending boulders or small...

 10 m length, with aerial roots. Stem
Stem
-Science:* Plant stem, the above ground structures that have vascular tissue and that support leaves and flowers   Also see similar:**Stipe **Stipe * Stem cell...

s 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. leave 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 umbrella
Umbrella
An umbrella or parasol is a canopy designed to protect against rain or sunlight. The term parasol usually refers to an item designed to protect from the sun; umbrella refers to a device more suited to protect from rain...

s, and the fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...

s, ripens in black, having round shape. It is cultivated in gardens and used in floral arrangements.

Taxonomy

In 1976, this ivy was mentioned in a chromosome study by McAllister. There it is named Hedera pedunculata that he does have an uncertain status, but an author of the East Asian flora identifies it as Hedera rhombea var formosana or rhombea. There is also a presumption that Hedera rhombea pedunculata could be a synonym for Hedera rhombea 'Pierrot'. It is interesting to remark: "Rhombea is now divided by all modern writers in Japanese and Taiwanese."
Hugh McAllister & Alison Rutherford in 1983 provide Hedera pedunculata from Südyajima, Japan, in her article "The Species Of Ivy" No.4 firmly in the "Ivy Journal Vol.9, that this differs from Hedera rhombea. It is regrettable to learn what not.

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.

A clue to the origin of the plant is found in the Hu Card Index of the Flora of China website. The Hu Card Index is a compilation of index cards of Chinese names of plants, which Dr. Hu Shiu-ying from the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University has put together. This could be Hedera formosanan Masumura in 1912 by "Index Plantarum Japonicarum II 2, 419" have been described for the first time. The Latin inscription indicating a mature form, they are mentioned as broad lanceolate to almost rhomboid leaves and explains the features of the flowers. Though, is also a weak tendency to form five lobes.

At the Royal Horticultural Society in Great Britain was the last time in 2004 Hedera rhombea var formosana Plant Finder listed in 2007 and is listed at the RHS Horticultural Database. Hedera formosana is in the 2006 Catalogue of Life Website - Annual Checklist 2010 considere in Global Biodiversity Information Facility as a synonym of Hedera rhombea var. formosana 2010, the variety in the web page of FMP, as low, medium, fast growing plant is provided with green foliage.
Just like the variety Hedera rhombea formosana has a diploid chromosome set (2n = 48) and small adjacent shed hair reddish yellow with 15 to 20 rays. Currently, there are ultimately no information, what exactly are the distinguishing features between H. rhombea rhombea and H. rhombea formosana.
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