Is This Poison Ivy?

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Is This Poison Ivy?
by Leigh Fulghum

Encountering a plant with three distinct leaves does not necessarily mean the worst- Virginia Creeper is a native plant beneficial to Florida bees and wildlife. But this benign relative of the Grape can sometimes masquerade as Poison Ivy, causing confusion and consternation. Because, though the creeper's compound leaves usually have 5 leaflets, they may also have 3 (or 7). And, both Virginia Creeper and Poison Ivy display red pigments in fall and winter.

Homeowners in Florida may find Virginia Creeper growing on their fences, walls, and on tree trunks. Cabbage Palms (Sabal palmetto) which are transplanted from wild areas into urban landscapes as well as trees grown in field nurseries frequently host growths of Poison Ivy, Virginia Creeper, or both. For naturalized landscaping effects or when landscaping for wildlife, it may be desirable to maintain some vines of Virginia Creeper.

Do I Have Poison Ivy?

Whether or not one has Poison Ivy is best determined by one's own judgement or by expert firsthand visual inspection of the rash or the plant, and preferably according to a sample of both. However, be careful not to contract a case while harvesting a specimen.

Consult your county Cooperative Extension Service- one of the best sources for getting the right information about local plants. This link will show you where to find a UFL/IFAS Florida Cooperative Extension in your county.

Poison Ivy, is also a Florida native plant, but has irritating sap like other of its relatives within the Cashew Family. For most people, an irritating sap is difficult to tolerate in any family.

Poison Ivy (above)
Toxicodendron radicans
(Linnaeus) Kuntze
Florida Distribution

Poison Ivy

The fruit of Poison Ivy is referred to botanically as a drupe, and is greenish-white in color.

Virginia Creeper

The fruit of Virginia Creeper is a berry and resembles its grape cousins, dark blue to black in color.

The leaves of Poison Ivy are compound, each leaf comprised of 3 leaflets. In general, the stalk of a leaf, whether simple or compound, is the petiole, and the stalk of a leaflet is a petiolule.
A close look at the compound leaves of Poison Ivy shows 3 leaflets with distinct petiolules, one of them long and clearly differentiated from the blade of its leaflet.	The compound leaves of Virginia Creeper typically have 5 leaflets. But the petiolules are so short that the leaflets appear almost sessile, or unstalked.

Poison Ivy in August
New! from Plants Daily Post

8/26/2008 Poisonous Plants in Florida

Poison Ivy Thoughts at a Miami Monastery

Behind whitewashed gates, crumbling coral walls and thick privacy hedges, the way to the meditation pond is not without its dangers. Even there lurks the one toxic resiny leaf that stops a botanist dead in her (or his) tracks- the black-blistered foliage of Toxicodendron radicans. It is unknown why instinct, or at least common sense doesn't always click in when poisonous items are encountered in life. This plant screams "don't touch me" to the keen eye, and it's those who feel that all plants look alike who end up scratching. Many newcomers to Florida are not aware that Mango is in the same family (Anacardiaceae ) as Poison Ivy, until the first time they wear a bathing suit while pruning a Mango tree. Like Poison Ivy, dripping sap from Mango trees is something best avoided.