Hedera iberica (McAll.) Ackerf. & J. Wen
H. maderensis K. Koch ex A. Rutherf. subsp. iberica McAll.
Eng.: Iberian ivy. Spa.: Hiedra ibérica. Fre.: Lierre. Ara.: Qessuss, luaïa, luwaya, habl el masakeen. Tam.: Tanesfalt.
Woody plant, hermaphrodite, perennial and climbing, that can reach 20 m in height. Young stems with leaves only (“sterile”) are straight, brown-orange in colour and can be glabrescent to densely hairy. “Fertile” branches are bronze green. Leaves in 2 types (dimorphic): leaves on sterile stems 4-9 cm, usually hastate, sometimes cordiform or palmate, often trilobed, with revolute margin, stellate hairs with (6)9-16(24) rotate rays, fused at the base in more than 40% of their length, reddish-orange with red centre; leaves of fertile stems larger, elliptical, sometimes ovate, obovate or lanceolate, and entire or subentire with shallow lobes. Flowers arranged in simple umbels or in racemes, with 25-30 flowers each. Flowers 8-10 mm in diameter, actinomorphic, hermaphrodite and pentamerous. Sepals triangular, chestnut in colour. Petals deltoid, patent, yellowish-green. Stamens free, yellow-green. Fruit a black and globose fleshy berry, 6-7.5 mm.
Flowering:
September to November.
Fruiting:
March to May.
Habitat:
Rocky outcrops and scree, sclerophyllous and marcescent forests and woods, preferably on siliceous substrates and near the coast. It is found from sea level to 500 m in altitude.
Distribution:
A predominantly Iberian species, from the S of Portugal and SW of Spain, that is also found in isolated populations in the coasts of the N of Morocco.
Observations:
There are reasonable doubts about whether the Iberian ivy should be restricted exclusively to the Iberian Peninsula, and whether the existing populations in Morocco are natural or naturalised. From a genetic point of view it is different from the other North African ivy species, since it is hexaploid (2n = 144). However, the characteristic reddish trichomes that differentiate the North African species lead to assume their native character in Morocco.
Conservation status:
Fairly rare species and with a small distribution area. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In the Livre Rouge de la flore vasculaire du Maroc (Fennane, 2021) it has been considered as Critically Endangered (CR).