Again, it is simply part of the body's defense. When those blisters break, liquid sometimes is released. Sometimes the rash is so bad that blisters are produced. So you don't spread it by scratching or showering. The rash is a skin reaction, it does not contain the oil. You cannot get it by touching your own or someone else's rash. One of the worst ways to get it, as mentioned earlier, is when someone burns it, and the smoke goes into your lungs. Remember, urushiol oil is still present even in dead plants. Usually, you get the rash when you brush against the plant itself, or something (like your dog) that has already brushed it and is still carrying the oil. It is in all parts of the plant including leaves, stems, and roots. The same oil is also produced by both poison oak and poison sumac. The rash that poison ivy produces is caused by your body's reaction to something called urushiol oil which comes from the plant. (It's actually the same action you use when cleaning up after your dog.)įor most people, a case of poison ivy is just an inconvenient, uncomfortable nuisance, but for some, it can be a severe medical problem that requires hospitalization, or at least a doctor's visit to obtain prescription medication. While grasping the plant with the plastic sleeve I turn the sleeve inside out pulling it off to encase the offending plant, and head straight for the trash can. I pull one over each of my garden gloves to cover my whole arm before I dig the little thing out with my garden knife, making sure I get the root. I save the plastic sleeves our newspaper comes in. I keep an eye out for them in the early spring because I DO NOT want them to become large. At that point, it is very difficult to eliminate. The stem of poison ivy, which is covered with hairy roots, can grow quite large and thick in diameter in old, well-established plants. It sometimes also grows on the ground forming a ground cover, or it can grow in shrub-like form.Īnother native plant, Virginia Creeper, is a poison ivy look-alike except it usually has five-leaf leaflets. Virginia Creeper is actually a valuable, non-poisonous plant which is sometimes used in landscaping projects. Poison Ivy is a vine that likes to scramble up trees and sides of buildings. They are also usually pointed with jagged edges. To me, the leaves also have a corrugated look to them. Those leaflets are usually a shiny, waxy, green color. So, in the case of poison ivy, one leaf actually has three leaflets. Each leaf is attached to the branch by a petiole (many people call it a stem.) A compound leaf is divided into several leaflets all attached by the same petiole to a branch. There is an old adage referring to it: "Leaves of three, Let it be." If you relied on that and nothing else, you would be running from many plants in your garden! Once you know this plant well, it is very easily recognized and not easily confused with other similar-looking plants.Īccording to Purdue University, for the adage to be botanically correct, it should be, "Leaflets of three, Let it be." The vast majority of all leaves are simple leaves. I guess I grew up thinking it was just a common knowledge thing, so it has surprised me during my adult years that so many people don't seem to recognize it. Identifying and avoiding poison ivy was ingrained in me when I was young by the Girl Scouts. But in the spring, I find young seedlings popping up in my gardens, usually under a tree. I garden in a residential area where I would rarely ever see poison ivy. It produces white berries in the fall and is a valuable food source for birds. They love to eat the berries and are responsible for spreading those seeds around our gardens. Even worse, is when they decide to burn the pile! Or even if the plant is dead! Some of the worst cases of poison ivy have occurred near the end of winter, when a person gets a fairly warm day to work outside, and decides it is a great time to clean up that brush pile. Did you know you can still get it if the plant has no leaves? Yep. This may seem like a strange time of year to talk about poison ivy, but, really, it isn't. Almost everyone knows how miserable a case of poison ivy can be.
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