Deck the Halls..but Don't Stop There!

The mention of English Ivy brings to mind images of quaint country cottages and flowing flower baskets, lingering rock walls and green covered ruins. We admire it outside, we grow it inside...but not many consider it as much more than an easy ornamental, when in fact, it has both an interesting history and practical application as a medicinal herb as well.

Folklore/Common Names: Common Ivy, Ground Ivy, True Ivy, Gort, Woodbind

Part Used: Leaf and in some cases, twig.

Historical Reference

It is evident that Ivy was highly regarded by the ancients, most apparently by the Greeks and Romans who used the leaves in poet's laurels, as well as others achieving high honors or victory. Ivy was also a strong symbol of fidelity, and it was customary for Greek priests to present a wreath of Ivy to newlyweds.

M. Grieve tells us in A Modern Herbal, "It is the Common Ivy that is alluded to in the Idylls of Theocritus, but the Golden Ivy of Virgil is supposed to be the yellow berried variety (Hedera Chrysocarpa), now so rare".

Ivy was specifically associated with Bacchus, and one ancient practice speaks of tying leaves of Ivy to one's brow to prevent intoxication. Old writings do reference a belief that the effects of wine intoxication could be removed by adding a handful of bruised Ivy leaves were boiled in wine and drunk while imbibing. It is interesting to note the survival of that notion in the English, where taverns used to display the sign of an Ivy bush over the door to indicate quality.

Part of that belief may have been encouraged by the properties of the Ivy wood itself, as Grieve goes on to note, "The wood is very porous, and the ancients thought it had the property of separating wine from water by filtration, an error arising from the fact that wood absorbs the colour of the liquid in its passage through the pores...In former days, English taverns bore over their doors the sign of an Ivy bush, to indicate the excellence of the liquor supplied within: hence the saying 'Good wine needs no bush' ".

In the young American colonies, Ivy wood was indeed used in thin slices as a filter.

Ivy is still associated by many with the holidays of Yule and Christmas, and is a common decoration of homes, churches and other sacred spaces. At one time the early Christian church condemned the practice as a pagan tradition, yet clearly without much influence as the practice continues today.

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