Identifying Poison Ivy And Poison Oak

Poison Ivy or toxicodendron quercifolium and Poison Oak can be found in many woodsy areas throughout The United States. If you come in contact with one of these plants the symptoms will appear within 3-24 hours, but can show up even days later. It varies by person, the size of the plant and the season of the year. Spring and summer are the times of greatest potential for poisoning. Symptoms are itchiness, skin inflammation, swelling and the formation of blisters. Avoid this plant at all costs...


Poison Oak or toxicodendron quercifolium is very similar to Poison Ivy but looks a bit different and frequently climbs up trees or walls. Poison Oak is a perennial shrub like Poison Ivy, so it needs to be completely removed from the ground to keep it from coming back every year. Here are a couple pictures of the plant and it's damaging effects...



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21 comments:

Desert Survivor said...

Your photos remind me of the painful times I had poison ivy. Thanks for the good advice!

ONNO said...

I know the itch of poison ivy. There was a summer where every time I bushwhacked I ended up covered in it. The blisters on the leg you showed looked like mine, but they started at the ankle and went halfway up the thigh. The most excruciating pleasure I had was when the doctor told me to scrub my legs to get the oil off.

PowderLover

BG said...

I just got Posion Oak when I was working in the yard on my left knee. I figured that i knelt directly into the plant. I washed my work pants 2 twice to be safe. About 3 weeks later after I was fully cured I put the pants on again and re-caught it on my knee again. I THREW AWAY THE PANTS!!!

Anonymous said...

Went hiking... 3 weeks later saw the first stage of bumps... now its everywhere...

Anonymous said...

poison ivy sucks

Anonymous said...

i had mine it started off like a bug bite almost and now it it everywere and i cant stop it i have tried EVERYTHING to get rid of it but it just keeps getting worse

Anonymous said...

I was absolutely covered in itchy red bumps & blisters. I tried a lot of homeopathic remedies. My husband and I did the oatmeal thing, worked a little. Then we slobbered ourselves in caladryl, benadryl and calamine lotions. I finally gave in to western medicine. A very high potency lotion and prednisone. I really wanted to avoid steriods, because I hate the side effects. After 5 tablets the itch is effectively gone and the nasty patches are reducing.

Anonymous said...

poison ivy is soooo not fun to have i get it every year i am like a magnet to it

Laura said...

poison oak is created by the devil. ive had it three times this year and not once was i in direct contact with the plant at all. i can get it by simply just waking up one morning and look under the sheets and BAM! i got it all over me.

Anonymous said...

Please give credit to the sites you are stealing the photos from. I will check back shortly and report to blogger if not.

1Green Thumb said...

We get the majority of our photos from Wixipedia and Google image search... I am afraid I have no idea which one we got these from... Are they one of yours?

Anonymous said...

who cares where they got the photos from shut up!

Anonymous said...

Yeah I'm sure someone's gonna get really mad if you steal their poison ivy pictures. Get a life!

Anonymous said...

smoke it. that's how i became immune to it. jk jk jk. hahaha no really, don't smoke it.

Anonymous said...

Its been week now that ive been battling poison oak. To all you poor people out there - I feel your itch. Hope never to get this again!

Anonymous said...

immm ichiiieeee im just out in the woods so much i dont even look for it anymore rather get poisen ivy 3 times a mounth than waist time while scouting ps if u dont itch it iw dosent spread as much lol i got it everywhere i know

Anonymous said...

great post

Anonymous said...

my cherokee blood has rendered me all but immune to both ivy and oak... i am indeed quite thankful for this. however, no one is perfect and poison sumac still always rips me a new one. always look first

Anonymous said...

I have poison Ivy and poison Oak looks alot worse! I have small patches of them on all four limbs my chest and back, I have no idea how it spread like this. I think I hit it with the weed trimmer snd it flew all over me. Now I will look before using the weed trimmer on new properties!!

Anonymous said...

I have had Poison IIvy and this is my second time getting Poisin Oak. It grows all over the tree's in my back yard. I was tired of it aking over the tree's so I started ripping it all off the tree's...without protection andin shorts and tank top, no gloves. YES, I am an IDIOT! Now, I have it almost everywhere including my eye. My doctor gave me a tube of cream called Fluocinonide and it worked pretty good the first couple times, hoping it will again. A lumberjack friend of mine is always into it too and uses Gold Bond effectively even though he is almost immune to it. Any suggestions for getting it out of my eye? Any other rememedies would be appreciated also...Thanks and stay non itchy...lol

Anonymous said...

My job has me outside all the time. I seem to get it by just looking at the darn plant. I bought this soap, I think it was called "grandmas home soap" or something like that. It has Jewell weed in it. When I know i come in contact with poison ivy I wash immediately and rash never shows up. But for some reason this rash I have now is pure evil. Nothing is working. I must have came in contact with some super hybrid poison plant. I'm about to resort to the bleach program....break open the blisters and poor bleach on it.

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