12 July 2022 — Despite the date, this post has nothing to do with King Billy and everything to do with the Ghost of Ivy Past.

Remember? The West 6th Ave. wall that had been stripped of its once-rampaging ivy, leaving behind this ghostly root-print.

Two different reactions, in reader comments:

1 – Nancy L. does a little hop of glee: “The only good ivy is ghost ivy”… while

2 – a member of the Medicinal Plant Specialist Group rises to the botanical challenge. “Not Virginia Creeper, but something rootier…” which therefore requires “a nerdy search of ivy roots.”

Nerdy search conducted; seriously rooty culprit found & identified.

English ivy.

That Group member may now add one more title to an already-impressive list of academic & professional credentials (along with the personal title of Cherished Friend):

Botanical Ghostbuster!