Download 51. Poison Ivy - Friess Lake School District

Common Name of Plant:
Scientific Name of Plant:
Average Height of Plant:
Blooming Time:
Poison Ivy
Rhus radicans
4-36 inches tall
Late June
Ask the Botanist
What are the leaves like?
The leaves are compound with three almond-shaped leaves centered at the end of one
stalk. Each leaf is rounded at the base with a sharp point at the tip. The upper leaf is
conspicuously-stemmed. The leaves are glossy green during summer and bright red in
the fall. They can be toothed, smooth-edged, or deeply lobed. There is a mnemonic
device to help you remember to not touch it, “Leaves of three, let it be; berries white,
danger in sight.”
What type of flowers bloom on this plant? What do the seedpods or seeds look like?
The flowers are yellow and loosely clustered. Grayish-white berries are seen clustered in
the fall and winter.
What is unusual about the stem or trunk?
This plant may be either a trailing shrub or a vine that climbs with aerial roots.
How is this plant important to animals? Has it also been used by people?
The grayish-white color of the berries is a favorite winter food of some birds.
All parts of this plant produce an oleoresin that irritates a significant percentage of people
with a severe, itchy rash. While some people are much less sensitive to the poison than
others, no one should handle the plants carelessly because they assume they are immune.
The oleoresin may be transmitted on smoke or on clothing or anything else that has
touched the plant.
What location does this plant prefer?
Poison ivy is more common now than when the Europeans first entered North America
because it usually grows on edges with cover on one side and open area on the other. It
therefore, can form lush colonies on the edges of roads thickets, open woods, fence rows,
walls, or wooded areas. It rarely grows at altitudes above 1500 meters (5,000 ft.).
Pictures
Leaf
http://wisplants.uwsp.edu/scripts/detail.
Berries