An evergreen woody climber in the Gensing Family, which scrambles over shady ground or clings to walls and trees by roots which can arise at any point on the branches. These roots are for holding on and not for feeding so they do not cause damage to healthy trees. If the pointing in stonework is poor the branches can penetrate it and weaken the structure; some old walls would collapse but for the ivy holding them together. Gutters can be blocked if the ivy is allowed to reach them, so it should be trimmed back by at least 30cm.
Extracts made from the wood are used as a medicinal herb to ease the coughing spasms in bronchitis. It is also applied externally to reduce cellulite. Preparations of the leaves are used to treat itching, burns, warts and scabies. The leaves on the non-flowering stems are shiny, dark green and the usual lobed shape. Those on the flowering stems are oval and pointed.
The small yellow flowers appear from September to November as spherical clusters and are pollinated by wasps and flies. Round, purplish-black berries containing a single seed ripen in the winter and are toxic. Birds take the berries and deposit the pink seed where they perch.

Seedlings should be uprooted before they can develop. Any developing plants should be removed from hedges as they will eventually become dominant, the hedging plants will die and collapse. Normally the ivy grows near to the main trunk of shrubs and trees, but with a hedge the growth which would naturally be beyond the ivy is removed, so the ivy becomes dominant.
If mature branches are taken from a wall the roots remain and can be mostly removed with a paint scraper.
A systemic herbicide will kill it, eg. Gylphosate, but the glossy leaves are hard to penetrate. Another would be a selective one for brush wood such as SBK.