Avoid anything green, lol. Seriously, though, my husband got neck-to-knees poison ivy a few years back and has been obsessively (and rationally, tbh) avoiding traipsing through anything that even remotely resembles it. The most obvious clue is the asymmetrical leaf: one half will be smaller than the other half. Apart from that its description is infuriating; it can be a vine or a shrub, close to the ground or climbing a tree, red or green, tall or short. Good luck!
"Leaves of three, let them be" is not enough, trust me, I KNOW! Here are 8 steps to identifying the dread weed with illustrations: http://www.wikihow.com/Identify-Poison-Ivy ; Good luck!
Whether poison ivy or poison oak there are two old OLD rhymes from my own chldhood that say 'LEAVES OF 3, LET IT BE" which applies all the time as far as I am concerned, and then the other I believe pertains to climbing poison ivy (although it could also apply to poison oak, with which I am not familiar nor ever want to be). This second one says "HAIRY VINE NO FRIEND OF MINE" (however poison ivy that is climbing doesn't always have a hairy looking vine unless it is OLD ivy ... young ivy does have suckers to help it stay on whatever it is climbing, but the older it gets the "hairier" the vines are). I am posting 2 pictures --- one of poison ivy (with its diestinctive 3 leaf tip -- note how the individual leaves kind of look like a mitten with pointy thumb and a pointy fingers space however as it gets older it loses the mitten look but begins changing to a reddish color meaning STAY AWAY) and another of poison oak (which has the 3 leaf tip but the individual leaves are more lobed that pointy, and they lack that mitten look; it also changes color as it grows and its lobes get smaller). You will also see poison sumac, which you should be aware of too, but leaves of 3 does not apply to this plant. It still has the one prominent leaf on the tip (as do poison ivy and poison oak) but its leaves are more of an oval shape with a pointy tip and grow on opposite sides of the stem from each other for a stem having a total of about 7-11 leaves (counting the one at the tip of the stem).
ALL of the above sites have excellent information they bring up about the plants (I have had a BAD rash from poison ivy and am extra cautious now. I would not wish it on my worst enemy! it lasted for MONTHS and is so painful)
I hope these weblinks help you to identify by sight the 3 most prevalent poisonous plants in the States.
Remember: leaves of 3 and hairy vines mean big trouble and physical misery
Thanks for using Hometalk and good health to you :)
poison ivy itchie stuff can stay on your clothes, your dog, the cat & tools. wash all carefully with a product designed to remove it. there was a product called ivy block that i have used to keep from getting the rash. also..never burn the stuff. the compound that makes the itch goes air bound. it can make breathing really hard if you are allergic to it.
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https://www.thespruce.com/pictures-of-poison-ivy-4071932
Avoid anything green, lol. Seriously, though, my husband got neck-to-knees poison ivy a few years back and has been obsessively (and rationally, tbh) avoiding traipsing through anything that even remotely resembles it. The most obvious clue is the asymmetrical leaf: one half will be smaller than the other half. Apart from that its description is infuriating; it can be a vine or a shrub, close to the ground or climbing a tree, red or green, tall or short. Good luck!
"Leaves of three, let them be" is not enough, trust me, I KNOW! Here are 8 steps to identifying the dread weed with illustrations: http://www.wikihow.com/Identify-Poison-Ivy ; Good luck!
3 shiny leaves. https://www.google.com/search?biw=1712&bih=1015&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=poison+ivy+images&oq=poison+ivy+images&gs_l=psy-ab.1.0.0l4.238483.244451.0.246808.17.17.0.0.0.0.208.2395.0j14j1.15.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..2.15.2390...0i67k1.GUebZaIiVKE
Whether poison ivy or poison oak there are two old OLD rhymes from my own chldhood that say 'LEAVES OF 3, LET IT BE" which applies all the time as far as I am concerned, and then the other I believe pertains to climbing poison ivy (although it could also apply to poison oak, with which I am not familiar nor ever want to be). This second one says "HAIRY VINE NO FRIEND OF MINE" (however poison ivy that is climbing doesn't always have a hairy looking vine unless it is OLD ivy ... young ivy does have suckers to help it stay on whatever it is climbing, but the older it gets the "hairier" the vines are). I am posting 2 pictures --- one of poison ivy (with its diestinctive 3 leaf tip -- note how the individual leaves kind of look like a mitten with pointy thumb and a pointy fingers space however as it gets older it loses the mitten look but begins changing to a reddish color meaning STAY AWAY) and another of poison oak (which has the 3 leaf tip but the individual leaves are more lobed that pointy, and they lack that mitten look; it also changes color as it grows and its lobes get smaller). You will also see poison sumac, which you should be aware of too, but leaves of 3 does not apply to this plant. It still has the one prominent leaf on the tip (as do poison ivy and poison oak) but its leaves are more of an oval shape with a pointy tip and grow on opposite sides of the stem from each other for a stem having a total of about 7-11 leaves (counting the one at the tip of the stem).
https://www.thespruce.com/pictures-of-poison-ivy-4071932
http://www.webmd.com/allergies/ss/slideshow-poison-plants
http://www.poison-ivy.org/identify-poison-ivy-poison-oak
http://www.hgtv.com/outdoors/flowers-and-plants/poison-plants-identifying-poison-ivy-poison-oak-and-poison-sumac
ALL of the above sites have excellent information they bring up about the plants (I have had a BAD rash from poison ivy and am extra cautious now. I would not wish it on my worst enemy! it lasted for MONTHS and is so painful)
I hope these weblinks help you to identify by sight the 3 most prevalent poisonous plants in the States.
Remember: leaves of 3 and hairy vines mean big trouble and physical misery
Thanks for using Hometalk and good health to you :)
Hi Deane. Here is a link on how to identify poison ivy. I always stick with leaves of 3 let it be.
http://www.wikihow.com/Identify-Poison-Ivy
poison ivy itchie stuff can stay on your clothes, your dog, the cat & tools. wash all carefully with a product designed to remove it. there was a product called ivy block that i have used to keep from getting the rash. also..never burn the stuff. the compound that makes the itch goes air bound. it can make breathing really hard if you are allergic to it.