Ivy is the eternal ingenue (9)

I believe the answer is:

evergreen

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'ivy' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'the eternal ingenue' is the wordplay.
'the eternal' becomes 'ever' (I've seen this in another clue).
'ingenue' becomes 'green' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'ever'+'green'='EVERGREEN'

'is' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for evergreen that I've seen before include "Timeless" , "Always popular" , "Of lasting popularity" , "Star anise, say" , "song that's been popular for a long time" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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