''Hedera pastuchovii'', (

Araliaceae The Araliaceae are a family of flowering plants composed of about 43 genera and around 1500 species consisting of primarily woody plants and some herbaceous plants. The morphology of Araliaceae varies widely, but it is predominantly distinguish ...

) is a species of ivy native to eastern

Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

and listed in ''The Red Book of the

Azerbaijan SSR Azerbaijan ( az, Азәрбајҹан, Azərbaycan, italics=no), officially the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Azerbaijan SSR; az, Азәрбајҹан Совет Сосиалист Республикасы, Azərbaycan Sovet Sosialist R ...

, 1989''. It is an

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

woody climber, growing in mixed forests to 20–30 m high where suitable trees are available but failing to thrive as a groundcover plant. It climbs by means of aerial rootlets which cling to the substrate. It is commonly known as Russian Ivy - so named from the formerly Russian-dominated area to which it is native.

Description

Leaves are thin, glossy, light green, entire or with wavy margins, 10–12 cm x 6–9 cm, often rounded and rarely oblong-elliptic, deeply or shallowly lobed, cordate or cuneate at the base. ''Hedera pastuchovii'' has a chromosome number of 2n= 144 (6x), making it a hexaploid. In a recent study of phylogenetics, ''H. pastuchovii,'' has been found to be related to other species of parsimony through a test of

cpDNA Chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) is the DNA located in chloroplasts, which are photosynthetic organelles located within the cells of some eukaryotic organisms. Chloroplasts, like other types of plastid, contain a genome separate from that in the cell nuc ...

restriction site variation analysis. In the clade containing Asian taxa, the results showed that the pre-existing phylogenies are largely congruent to one another, helping to place one additional clade helped resolve the positions of ''H. maroccana'', ''H. iberica'', and ''H. canariensis'' in the combined analysis.

Distribution and habitat

''Hedera pastuchovii'' rare relic species of the

Greater Caucasus The Greater Caucasus ( az, Böyük Qafqaz, Бөјүк Гафгаз, بيوک قافقاز; ka, დიდი კავკასიონი, ''Didi K’avk’asioni''; russian: Большой Кавказ, ''Bolshoy Kavkaz'', sometimes translat ...

(Balakan, Zagatala, Gakh, Sheki and Khachmaz regions) and the

Talysh Talysh may refer to: *Talysh people * History of Talysh *Talysh language *Talysh Khanate, in existence from 1747 to 1828 *Talysh-Mughan Autonomous Republic, a self-declared autonomy, which existed briefly in the south of Azerbaijan in 1993 *Talysh ...

(Astara, Lankaran, Masalli regions). Outside Azerbaijan - Eastern Transcaucasia, Iran. In addition to the Caucasus, ''H. pastuchovii'' is found also in the

Elburz Mountains The Alborz ( fa, البرز) range, also spelled as Alburz, Elburz or Elborz, is a mountain range in northern Iran that stretches from the border of Azerbaijan along the western and entire southern coast of the Caspian Sea and finally runs nort ...

of Iran. ''Hedera pastuchovii'' is a climbing plant that can be found on many trees or walls, as it clings up to any surface and is good for climbing or scaling any walls or trees. Its habitat includes the forests of the lowlands up to the middle mountain zone mainly on the forest edges and clearings, climbing high into trees, rather than scrambling over rocks. It is protected in the

Zagatala State Reserve Zagatala State Nature Reserve ( az, Zaqatala Dövlət Qoruğu) - is a reserve in the Zagatala and Balakan districts of Azerbaijan. It was established in 1929 in the middle part of the southern foothills of the Greater Caucasus Mountains in the te ...

and Girkan reserves. A nature reserve is being set up in the Samur River delta (Khachmaz region) to protect the lowland riparian woodlands which form its preferred habitat.

Cultivated ornamental

Like other ''Hedera'' species, ''H. pastuchovii'' may be used to clothe tall or wide walls for the aesthetic appeal of its foliage and to hide unsightly walls, fences and tree stumps, although, unlike some other species, its growth habit prevents its being used as ground cover. Numerous cultivars with variegated foliage and/or unusual leaf shapes have been selected for horticultural use. In cultivation in the UK the

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

‘Ann Ala’ has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...

’s

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

References

pastuchovii Garden plants Flora of Azerbaijan {{araliaceae-stub