Ivy
This evergreen creeping shrub of the Araliaceae family grows in the woods, the gorges and ravines in the Caucasus, Crimea, on the south-west of Ukraine, the Baltic States. Its numerous additional roots, ivy suckers attached to trees, rocks, buildings. Especially picturesque, the picture looks in the winter: the mighty, bare tree trunks entwined in the Crimea, leathery, shiny, heart-shaped 3-5-lobed leaves. There you can find at home, where not only the window, but the ceiling and the room laid out with green ivy - so undemanding plant to light. It is interesting that up until the ivy grows in the shade, its air suckers need support. During this period the leaves have a matte color, and are 5 - and 7-lobed, clearly angular figure, with white veins. But as soon as ivy selected to the sun - on top of houses, trees or on open ground rock, its stem is straight, strong, without aerial roots and the leaves acquire a rounded shape. At length the ivy reaches 30 meters.There are several varieties of ivy - Colchis, Pastukhov and ordinary. They differ among themselves in size and shape of leaves, long stems, color of leaves and flowers. Flowers are inconspicuous with ivy, yellow-green color, in simple umbels, collected by brush.
Drug used to leaves: in folk medicine they used in chronic catarrh of the mucous membranes, tuberculosis, rickets and other diseases.
With cosmetic purposes use the leaves in decoction externally with mycosis of the scalp, lice, scabies, boils, burns.
Fresh sheet - a good remedy for the treatment of suppurating wounds. In Bulgaria, the externally applied ivy leaf with callouses, warts, polyps, festering wounds and burns.
Bred as an ornamental plant in the indoor environment, creating a green interior of the cozy corner of the room. But we must remember that ivy - a plant poison, especially berries, have first green, then black, slightly sweet-tasting, most often they mislead children were cases of poisoning.