american ivy

American ivy
    n 1: common North American vine with compound leaves and bluish-
         black berrylike fruit [syn: {Virginia creeper}, {American
         ivy}, {woodbine}, {Parthenocissus quinquefolia}]
    

Ivy \I"vy\, n.; pl. {Ivies}. [AS. [imac]fig; akin to OHG. ebawi,
   ebah, G. epheu.] (Bot.)
   A plant of the genus {Hedera} ({Hedera helix}), common in
   Europe. Its leaves are evergreen, dark, smooth, shining, and
   mostly five-pointed; the flowers yellowish and small; the
   berries black or yellow. The stem clings to walls and trees
   by rootlike fibers.
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         Direct
         The clasping ivy where to climb.         --Milton.
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         Ye myrtles brown, with ivy never sere.   --Milton.
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   {American ivy}. (Bot.) See {Virginia creeper}.

   {English ivy} (Bot.), a popular name in America for the ivy
      proper ({Hedera helix}).

   {German ivy} (Bot.), a creeping plant, with smooth, succulent
      stems, and fleshy, light-green leaves; a species of
      {Senecio} ({Senecio scandens}).

   {Ground ivy}. (Bot.) Gill ({Nepeta Glechoma}).

   {Ivy bush}. (Bot.) See {Mountain laurel}, under {Mountain}.
      

   {Ivy owl} (Zool.), the barn owl.

   {Ivy tod} (Bot.), the ivy plant. --Tennyson.

   {Japanese ivy} (Bot.), a climbing plant ({Ampelopsis
      tricuspidata}), closely related to the Virginia creeper.
      

   {Poison ivy} (Bot.), an American woody creeper ({Rhus
      Toxicodendron}), with trifoliate leaves, and
      greenish-white berries. It is exceedingly poisonous to the
      touch for most persons.

   {To pipe in an ivy leaf}, to console one's self as best one
      can. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

   {West Indian ivy}, a climbing plant of the genus
      {Marcgravia}.
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Virginia \Vir*gin"i*a\, n.
   One of the States of the United States of America. -- a. Of
   or pertaining to the State of Virginia.
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   {Virginia cowslip} (Bot.), the American lungwort ({Mertensia
      Virginica}).

   {Virginia creeper} (Bot.), a common ornamental North American
      woody vine ({Ampelopsis quinquefolia}), climbing
      extensively by means of tendrils; -- called also
      {woodbine}, and {American ivy}. [U. S.]

   {Virginia fence}. See {Worm fence}, under {Fence}.

   {Virginia nightingale} (Zool.), the cardinal bird. See under
      {Cardinal}.

   {Virginia quail} (Zool.), the bobwhite.

   {Virginia reel}, an old English contradance; -- so called in
      the United States. --Bartlett.

   {Virginia stock}. (Bot.) See {Mahon stock}.
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American \A*mer"i*can\ ([.a]*m[~e]r"[i^]*kan), a. [Named from
   Americus Vespucius.]
   1. Of or pertaining to America; as, the American continent:
      American Indians.
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   2. Of or pertaining to the United States. "A young officer of
      the American navy." --Lyell.
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   {American ivy}. See {Virginia creeper}.

   {American Party} (U. S. Politics), a party, about 1854, which
      opposed the influence of foreign-born citizens, and those
      supposed to owe allegiance to a foreign power.

   {Native american Party} (U. S. Politics), a party of
      principles similar to those of the American party. It
      arose about 1843, but soon died out.
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