English ivy (Hedera helix), a heavy, woody vine with handsome, dark-green, waxy leaves, is believed to have been brought to the New World by European colonists in the 1700s. They likely appreciated ...

We think of common ivy, Hedera helix, as a symbol of death or gloom, but to the ancient Greeks it was the emblem of Thalia, the muse of comedy, and the Dionysian priestesses carried staves entwined ...