Poison ivy identification

[Scutter01]

If you're like me, you have a hard time ID'ing poison ivy. The resources out there are, frankly, bad. There are too many varieties and finding actual useful photos instead of drawings can be tough. I finally stumbled across one and it's about the best guide I've found, so I thought I'd share. You'll note that the drawing of poison ivy at the top doesn't match any of the photos below. You begin to see my problem. Do you have poison plant identifiers that you use?

 

[findingZzero]

I've sprayed some PI recently with vinegar solution/soap/salt (google it). After a day I noticed no difference so I tried bleach. After 3 days it still looks healthy with the occasional lesion. No rain to wash it off. Will wait a few mor days before flamethrower.

 

[Bang-bang]

Dont burn it! that can cause a lung problem.

 

[Frosty]

I just assume any vine with leaves is poison something.

 

[cosermann]

Leaves of 3. Check.
Hairy vines. Check.
The poison ivy leaves around here (southern Indiana) most often look similar to the "mitten" ones second from the bottom in the guide above.
Thing is they can look a bit different at different stages of maturity and during different seasons.
I never look for the berries, but that's just me.

 

[snapping turtle]

Take leaf rub on skin. If you get little blisters then it is poison ivy. Fairly easy way to identify and 100% correct answers.

 

[SkinNFluff]

Take leaf rub on skin. If you get little blisters then it is poison ivy. Fairly easy way to identify and 100% correct answers.

well seeing i have no no reaction to poison ivy, poison sumac, poison oak, ect. does that mean it's a mythical plant?

 

[snapping turtle]

well seeing i have no no reaction to poison ivy, poison sumac, poison oak, ect. does that mean it's a mythical plant?

WAit till after a rain (two days after ) or the fall of eye year and do my test. Urushiol is not something you would normally be Immune from. That is a nasty oil. You can buy a skin shield spray that helps but 90 + percent of humans will have a bad reaction from Urushiol with the added compounds that number is higher so just because one plant does itch you out does not mean none will. On most tests 90 percent or better is good.

of course we have a vast array of people here on INgO so we have to have some who would make the test invalid.

Retake on the above test.
So take your better half's arm and rub the plant on it. If she get little blisters then It is poison ivy.

I have pulled it er it out by hand with gloves In The drought a few years ago. No oil. no harm.

 

[snapping turtle]

Man cell phone posting with spell check does not do well. I think you can make out the post above.

 

[BuckCreek]

I have never had it (looks for something wooden to knock on), but I also avoid it like the plague. I don't know if I am resistant to it or just lucky enough to have never come in contact with it.

I have family members that can get it if their cat goes through it and then rubs up against them. I know of a family that burned wood in an old converted coal furnace. One year they had some wood with poison ivy vine on it that they didn't pull off before burning the wood. The whole family ended up with a really bad case of poison ivy. Definitely nasty stuff.

Thanks for sharing the guide. I agree, that is the best one I've see.

 

[Twangbanger]

Here's another clue they don't tell you above: the leaf petioles of PI are "alternately" spaced on the stem, as opposed to "oppositely" spaced (ie, there will be one on the "left side," then a little farther along, another on the opposite or "right" side...the left and right petioles do not come out of the same spot on the stem). If the petioles on the left and right sides of the stem both join the stem at the same place, they're oppositely-spaced and it's not PI. People will often confuse the juvenile form of Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus Quinquefolia) with PI because the young shoots have only three leaflets instead of the mature five, but the dead giveaway is that the leaflet petioles on either side of the Virginia Creeper stem are coming out of the same point directly across from each other, instead of being alternately spaced out.

In this neck of the woods, if it has three leaflets and the petioles are alternately-spaced, you can be about 90% sure it's PI.

 

[remauto1187]

Wanna get rid of it in literally hours? Or just about anything that has leaves? Get you some herbicide with Diquat Dibromide. Its used for weed burndown(chemical) and the plants will be laying flat on the ground with brown/yellow leaves in a matter of hours after being sprayed with it! $8.99 a gallon at Rural King.

 

[poppy]

Diquat Dibromide is a contact herbicide only. In order to get rid of poison ivy, you need to use an herbicide that kills the root also. Diquat Dibromide is only a contact herbicide, not a translocater. Basically, it is a defoliant.

 

[findingZzero]

agent orange?

 

[poppy]

agent orange?

No it is not agent orange. Agent orange is a mix of 50% 2,4,D and 2,4,5T with either disel fuel or kerosene. Agent orange came to name as it was shipped in 55 gallon drums with an orange stripe painted on the barrel. Diquat Dibromide is a chlorophenoxy.

 

[poppy]

Look up Relegate or Crossbow for woody vegetation control.

 

[Mark 1911]

Another common poisonous plant to be familiar with and watch for in Indiana is stinging nettles, very common in the woods this time of year. I wandered into a patch of these while scrounging for fire wood on a camping trip while wearing shorts - not pleasant.

 

[freekforge]

I avoid PI at all costs if i think there is even the tiniest chance that i got into i pretty much bathe in bleach or gasoline. According to the nurses at the hospital i get the worse cases they have ever seen. And since i refuse to take steroids they really cant do much for me anymore. Guy i know used some stuff the rail road uses that kills it within a few hours Im gonna try and get some.

 

[cosermann]

Scutter,

Another thing I found helpful was a poison ivy session put on by one of the state parks years ago (McCormick's Creek, iirc).

It started with a lecture, then we walked around the park's hiking trails with the guide pointing out examples of poison ivy; all sizes, vines, etc. Something like that really helps.

 

[xcalibur]

Another common poisonous plant to be familiar with and watch for in Indiana is stinging nettles, very common in the woods this time of year. I wandered into a patch of these while scrounging for fire wood on a camping trip while wearing shorts - not pleasant.

We always called this stuff Fire Weed