Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Ivy \I"vy\, n.; pl. {Ivies}. [AS. [=i]fig; akin to OHG. ebawi,
   ebah, G. epheu.] (Bot.)
   A plant of the genus {Hedera} ({H. 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.

         Direct The clasping ivy where to climb.  --Milton.

         Ye myrtles brown, with ivy never sere.   --Milton.

   {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} ({S. scandens}).

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

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

   {Ivy owl} (Zo["o]l.), 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}.

Source : WordNet®

German ivy
     n : South African succulent evergreen twining climber with
         yellow flowers grown primarily as a houseplant for its
         foliage; sometimes placed in genus Senecio [syn: {Delairea
         odorata}, {Senecio milkanioides}]