stylistic:style_transfer, stylistic:tone
Taxonomy

The following species are widely accepted; they are divided into two main groups, depending on whether they have scale-like or stellate trichomes on the undersides of the leaves:

The species of ivy are largely allopatric and closely related, and many have on occasion been treated as varieties or subspecies of H. helix, the first species described. Several additional species have been described in the southern parts of the former Soviet Union, but are not regarded as distinct by most botanists.

Hybrids have been recorded between several Hedera species, including Atlantic ivy (H hibernica) with common ivy (H helix). Hybridisation may also have played a part in the evolution of some species in the genus. A well-known hybrid involving ivies is the intergeneric hybrid × Fatshedera lizei, a cross between Fatsia japonica and Hedera hibernica. This hybrid was produced once in a garden in France in 1910 and has never successfully been repeated, the hybrid being maintained in cultivation by vegetative propagation.