What does poison ivy look like?
A woody vine whose official name is Toxicodendron Radicans , poison ivy can have many unpleasant effects on anyone unfortunate enough to come into contact with it. About 85% of people will experience an allergic reaction if the plant touches their skin, because of the presence of an oil called urushiol in the leaves. An itchy rash followed by blisters can ensue, and there's not much that anyone can do other than try to soothe the affected area with various products (e.g. Calamine lotion) and just wait for the rash to go away in its own time.
Because of this, it's wise to know what posion ivy looks like if you live in an area where you're likely to find it growing. Although it's not officially an ivy, it gets the name poison ivy due to its often vine-like form, and the way in which it can spread and creep like ivy. You can also find it in the form of a shrub, in which case it can grow to around 1.2 meters tall! Alternatively, it can be found as a ground cover plant.
It's fairly common throughout Canada and North America, with the exception of Hawaii, Alaska, and California – states where a similar plant known as poison oak exists instead. Poison ivy grows most often in wooded areas, but it's not limited to these, and can also thrive in open fields, rocky terrain, and other areas where soil isn't necessarily rich and fertile.
Although it exists it a few different forms, you can learn to recognize poison ivy by paying attention to a few distinctive features. Firstly, it is a thornless plant, and its vine is covered with hairs. Leaves are alternate along the vine, and always in clusters of three, with the middle leaf having a longer stem than the two at the sides. Leaves are green – lighter when younger, and becoming progressively darker with age. However, in the springtime the leaves are often a bright red color, before turning green and then becoming an orange or dark red color in the fall.
The three key things to look out for are:
(1)Lack of thorns
(2)Clusters of three leaves
(3)Alternate clusters along the vine.
If the poison ivy is growing up a tree, it will also usually be very easy to identify by the hair-covered vine, which looks like a furry rope clinging to the bark. When the plant is in flower, it produces grayish-white berries, too.
Because of the need to familiarize oneself with poison ivy in countries where it is common, there are numerous memory aid rhymes to help peple to identify the plant. They include:
-"One, two, three? Don't touch me."
-"Raggy rope, don't be a dope!"
-"Berries white, run in fright"
-"Leaves of three, let it be."
-"Hairy vine, no friend of mine."
-"If butterflies land there, don't put your hand there."
-"Longer middle stem, stay away from them."
-"Red leaflets in the spring, it's a dangerous thing."
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