14 ms·
Is this poison ivy?
- marymkearney 4y agoMostly of interest to readers in North America and China, where Toxicodendron radicans is generally found. Scores: 50/55, then 53/55, then 55/55. Better to over-ID than under-ID (ask me how I know).
- dgacmu 4y agoDitto from a fellow "learned the hard way" poison ivy ID fanatic. 52/55 - three false positives, no false negatives, exactly as I'd prefer. Well worth studying - and its habitat is spreading over time.
- marymkearney 4y agoThe Boston ivy was the test confounder for me. Still don't want to field-test it. Climate change is not only expanding its habitat, but apparently increasing its urushiol content as it grows.
- dendrite9 4y agoThere are other plants with urishiol that can be worth knowing about as well but that is a local thing. Poison oaks (Toxicodendron pubescens, Toxicodendron diversilobum) are pretty common in the US. My mom had a brush with hogweed that gave her surprisingly bad sunburns many years ago. I keep away from most of the angelicas to avoid a similar reaction. I recently learned about this tree in Florida where all parts of the tree can cause contact dermatitis, though not with urushiol. Even standing below it in the rain can cause rashes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchineel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchineel
- marymkearney 4y agoManicheel sounds horrible. It's in spurge family, known for skin irritation in more northern species. This is like the spurge from hell. Native and endangered in Florida. Hogweed's super scary also. It's all over North America apparently. It contains furanocoumarin, a phytotoxin, and touching the plant sensitizes skin to sunlight. It can cause severe burns, necrosis requiring amputation, and permanent blindness. A fact I just learned from looking it up: Species similar to giant hogweed, Heracleum mantegazzianum, are ALSO phototoxic. Did not know that! I thought if you could ID it as cow-parsnip or whatever, it was "safe." NOT. These include - Common hogweed, H. sphondylium -- Cow parsnip, H. maximum -- Wild parsnip, Pastinaca sativa -- Wild lettuces, Lactuca sp. -- Angelica, Angelica atropurpurea -- Queen Anne's lace, Daucus carota. Other hogweed lookalikes in Apiaceae include the hemlocks, similar appearance but feathery leaves, which go WAY beyond phytotoxicity (all parts of the plant are fatally poisonous to humans). Fun times. Steer clear! The cool thing about botany is, there's always something more to learn.
- jamiek88 4y agoOmg. Since moving to Oregon I have developed this weird photo sensitivity on my hands and forehead. I get a bumpy ugly rash if direct sun hits them. I removed a ton of Queen Anne’s lace from the yard when I moved in.
- marymkearney 4y agoWhoa. Anecdotal trumps theoretical for sure. Scary. Hope you are OK.
- pixl97 4y agoInteresting, I've lived in places with hogweed most my life and never really had a run in with it. Now Texas bull nettle (Cnidoscolus texanus), while not extremely dangerous is instantly painful and quickly teaches you to give it a wide berth.
- evan_ 4y ago"Leaves of three, let it be"
- mrexroad 4y ago“if it’s shiny, watch your hiney”
- daveslash 4y ago"Remember kids! Leaves of Three, Wipe with Me!" Worst advice from Boy Scouts ever.... But it stuck with me and helps me identify poison ivy.
- nubinetwork 4y agoLeaves of four, eat some more!
- rossdavidh 4y agoMy score was 45/55, with a couple fat-fingered clicks but still I was fooled sometimes. Even if you're not the woodsy type, it can be found alongside paths in city parks and etc, so good to know how to recognize.
- jay_kyburz 4y agoI got 40 and I live in Australia. As far as I know we don't have it here.
- bradrn 4y agoApparently not, but we do get the closely related Rhus tree (Toxicodendron succedaneum) as an invasive species.
- throwaway4837 4y agoNice, I got 44.
- ChrisMarshallNY 4y agoI have done pretty well, on this test (my wife showed it to me, last year). We grow poison ivy as a cash crop, around here. You learn to recognize it.
- trynewideas 4y agoA cash crop for what? What sells, why, and to whom?
- ChrisMarshallNY 4y agoIt was a joke. It is everywhere. I once did a photo essay of a local abandoned insane asylum. Some of the buildings are covered with poison ivy, like English ivy (often, both). Looks pretty in the fall, though. ProTip: Don't burn it.
- onemoresoop 4y ago> ProTip: Don't burn it. What happens when you do? Toxic?
- ChrisMarshallNY 4y agoOh, yeah. Makes mustard gas look like potpourri. I know a couple of landscapers that ended up in the hospital, because a few strands of poison ivy ended up in some brush they were burning (which they shouldn't have been, anyway).
- stirfish 4y agoYou basically get poison ivy (as smoke) in your eyes/hair/lungs/everywhere
- duskwuff 4y ago"Lungs" being the really nasty part. Inhaling smoke from burning poison ivy can be fatal. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35703240/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35703240/
- x3n0ph3n3 4y agoI recently tried a soup in Korea (옻닭 or oht-tak) made from Toxicodendron vernicifluum before knowing what it was. The people I was with were very insistent that I take a pill to neutralize the allergen (urushiol, found also in poison ivy, is technically an allergen rather than a toxin) before I ate it. Not everyone reacts to it, but when they do, it's pretty bad. The others I ate with have no reaction to it at all.
- durkie 4y agoWhat was the pill?
- x3n0ph3n3 4y agoI suspect it was an antihistamine, but I'm not certain.
- RajT88 4y ago> Not everyone reacts to it, but when they do, it's pretty bad. I have had it a couple times, with leaves brushing my skin. Huge, weeping sores all over my arms, chest, stomach (and worse), like leprosy (I imagine, anyways, never seen a photo of a leper). I can't even imagine eating it. Similarly, I saw an episode of "Flavorful Origins" on Netflix, "Lacquer Seed Oil", which collected the fruits of the Lacquer tree (basically a poison ivy tree). They ground up the fruits and cooked the pressed oil to neutralize the urushiol (how did they not die from inhaling it??), and then they made a lovely tea with the oil with local bee larvae.
- qup 4y agoDid the oil have a flavor? Can you describe it? I'll never get the pleasure.
- x3n0ph3n3 4y agoHonestly, it was nothing remarkable. It's used in eastern medicine to treat various ailments, but the flavor itself didn't have any sort of lasting impression. The best thing to come of it is a story of having "poison ivy chicken."
- bjt2n3904 4y agoThe trick someone taught me for identifying poison ivy (I've got it ALL over my yard) was... 1) Irregular leaf shape. The leaves just don't know how to grow. Straight edge? Jagged edge? Both, neither? 2) The three leaves form a T-shape, with the center leaf jutting out.
- ChrisMarshallNY 4y agoKudzu looks similar (but bigger). Kudzu has its own issues, but it isn't a blistering agent. https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-states/indiana/stories-in-indiana/kudzu-invasive-species/ https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-s...
- hammock 4y agoYes, there was no kudzu in this sample when there probably ought to be for a lot of people
- qup 4y agoThat's the first I've paid kudzu any attention, but looks like its "vine"/stem (not a botanist) is quite distinct from poison ivy, so that should make it decently easy.
- ChrisMarshallNY 4y agoThe leaves are about three times as big.
- trynewideas 4y agoTo save you the clicking, if you answer "No" to every picture, you score 35/55 ("Not bad!").
- autokad 4y agoin real life, better to treat everything (or at least anything sus) as a yes :P
- greenbit 4y agoIt's good to recognize the vines that run up tree trunks as well. Easiest when they have leaves, but they don't always have leaves especially in shady areas. The bigger vines tend to have a hairy or bushy look, lots of little root-hair like bits, that seem to help it cling to the tree bark, and these seem to have a reddish hue about them.
- briHass 4y agoI forgot all about poison ivy's appearance as a (dried out) vine, and I proceeded to cut and rip huge chunks of it off a spruce tree in my yard. The first indication I made a huge mistake was a relentless cough all that evening from the dust it generated as it broke off the tree. For the next month, I had horrible patches on my forearms and random other spots on my trunk where either it grazed me or I touched with my contaminated gloved hand. Luckily, I had some beta methadone lying around that helped the worst of the itching. Even the dermatologist, when I saw him about 2 weeks post exposure, was horrified.
- adzm 4y agoI had a terrible experience this summer from a dried poison ivy vine on a fallen tree. I can still see the marks on my skin where I had the awful rash. Really took me by surprise.
- wprl 4y ago"Hairy rope, don't be a dope"
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- graywh 4y agoand sometimes the vine has branches -- I've seen them a few feet long
- 22222421 4y ago[flagged]
- ipython 4y agoIt took me a few seconds to realize this is poison ivy the plant and not poison ivy the remote access Trojan https://malwiki.org/index.php?title=PoisonIvy https://malwiki.org/index.php?title=PoisonIvy
- marymkearney 4y agoHah. Different quiz altogether. Another one not to field-test.
- dtgriscom 4y agoOr the DC Comics villain?
- galaxyLogic 4y agoWe've all heard about the Ivy League. What about Poison Ivy League?
- RajT88 4y agoI now understand with great clarity why I have had poison ivy so much in my life.
- WirelessGigabit 4y agoIf it looks like poison oak (West Coast here) I'm taking a wide berth. I've been exposed enough times that I need high dose of steroids, both topical and oral to knock it down. Last time it took 3 rounds of steroids and clobetasol. Before I used to get by with triamcinolone.
- dap 4y agoSorry to hear that. That sounds rough. I want this quiz, but for poison oak. There's so much blackberry and other stuff in the bay area that looks awfully similar. I'd rather learn how to reliably identify it than be afraid of ... everything.
- qyph 4y agoBlackberry has thorns and serrated leaves so you can distinguish it fairly easily regardless of season. When there are leaves on the plants there aren't really many plants that are easy to confuse with poison oak around here. Just look for leaves that come in sets of 3 leaflets with rounded/smooth lobes.
- clmay 4y agoI agree, I find it easy to identify in any season. We have few plants that resemble it or its growth habits in anything but a superficial way, plus poison oak is much less variable in leaf size and shape than poison ivy. The buds and stem tips are especially good giveaways, but I didn't really realize it until I lived somewhere with multiple species of sumac.
- dap 4y agoIt's great you don't have trouble. I don't have that confidence yet. I've been using a plant id app to check when I see it and I've gotten it wrong both ways. https://www.verywellfit.com/poison-oak-photo-4020320 https://www.verywellfit.com/poison-oak-photo-4020320 > The leaves may be notched, round, or oak-like depending on what other foliage is around the poison oak plants. They may be shiny—or not. They may have a red tinge—or not. This is where the challenge of identifying these plants comes into play. ... > The actual shape of poison oak's leaves change based on the environment it is growing in, with the lobes able to vary on the same plant. That may be why I've found it hard to pin down.
- hammock 4y agoI got 52/55 and I went quickly. Do I spend too much time outside? People often ask me how to identify poison ivy. And I try to teach them. I think I do a decent job. It’s not as simple as one or two markers. But at some point you just develop an instinct
- debacle 4y agoGot 47/55 with a few false positives (which is A-OK in my book). Poison ivy has a few distinct characteristics that make it hard to miss if you know what to look for.
- clmay 4y agoSame score, and most of these plants aren't native here (W Oregon) and I wasn't familiar (in particular jack-in-the-pulpit got me 2/3 times, and then sarsaparilla appeared once). I get asked to teach people plant ID sometimes, and people often seem mystified by it, until I explain the concept of "search image". It seems to give them a new way to approach it and seems helpful in most cases. Probably related to what you mean by "developing an instinct".
- seti0Cha 4y agoSame. I swear there's an aura of evil around it and that's how I identify it.
- Alex3917 4y ago> But at some point you just develop an instinct https://www.mushroomthejournal.com/the-species-concept/ https://www.mushroomthejournal.com/the-species-concept/
- marymkearney 4y agoYeah, this, exactly, observing the lifecycle in different habitats. Those stinkhorns tho :o
- devb 4y agoI've never seen a stinkhorn that I didn't smell first.
- User23 4y agoThe nice thing about whoops you're wrong this is a Raspberry is that you're never going to make that mistake the one time you want to touch the Raspberry plant. More generally speaking, plant identification is something I'm terrible at and really want to get better at.
- voidfunc 4y agoI (think) I got poison ivy on my leg this past summer for the first time in my life while golfing. I must've either gotten a ton of concentrated urushiol in one spot or be very allergic because the blistering was extreme. Nasty stuff and left a scar.
- derbOac 4y ago55. The vines were tricky because of the photo angles. But not too tricky apparently.
- csours 4y agoThis is fun, but sometimes it's only clear through context clues. Poison ivy is VERY adaptable. It can look like ground cover or like a bush or like a little tree. It would be great if they had an alternate view for the ones that people get wrong. I got 50/55. I think one of my big problems was not being able to tell textures from the photo, or not getting a clear view of the stems and runners.
- greenie_beans 4y agoya i tripped up on id'ing the bushier poison ivy growth without seeing the context around it
- anonu 4y ago19/55 https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/ivarest-poison-ivy-itch-relief-cream/ID=prod4467-product https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/ivarest-poison-ivy-itch-re... Luckily, my ignorance on this topic can be partly relieved for $7.
- js2 4y ago34/55. > Poison ivy gives most people an itchy rash. Good thing I'm not one of those people. (Yet. Repeated exposure can apparently eventually make me one of those people. But I've made it a half century so far despite living on the east coast, being semi-frequently exposed while hiking, running, yard-work, etc, and never really worried about it.) Meanwhile, my wife is a plant geek: 53/55.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- hammock 4y ago> 34/55. Did you know that just clicking no for all of them will get you a higher score than this?
- cshimmin 4y agoHaha I had to go and confirm, you're right (it's 35/55 for those who don't want to click a button 55 times). And here I was feeling pretty good about my 42/55...
- qup 4y agoThe point isn't really to optimize your score.
- frogpelt 4y agoUnless you're trying to save time in the woods but also don't care about future rashes.
- hcayless 4y agoI was you until a couple of years ago. Could have rolled naked in the stuff. Then it got me. And Lord, it was horrible. Weeks of agony. I’m super careful with it now.
- gibspaulding 4y ago> Yet. Repeated exposure can apparently eventually make me one of those people. This is a good reminder for people. Most people only start getting it after a few exposures. I know of at least one early exposure that should have been really bad that nothing came of, but I've had it a few times since. I'm pretty careful these days though: 54/55. ...Now I know I'm going to get wrecked this summer.
- graywh 4y agothey need to add box elder to the set of images
- marymkearney 4y agoYes agree, most common lookalike, especially seedlings. The opposite branching is distinctive but it takes awhile to learn.
- yosito 4y ago54/55. Grew up in Ohio spending every day off trail in the woods. Misidentified one because the site gets cropped off on mobile and I got over confident and didn't scroll to see the whole photo.
- seti0Cha 4y ago52/55...had a couple of false positives, because I'm paranoid. I'm pretty sensitive to it, and it's all around where I live. As careful as I am, though, I still manage to get it once or twice a year.
- pixl97 4y agoFalse positive won't hurt me, false negative will. A little exposure is bad enough on me, but even a moderate amount and I go to the doctor before it turns into a dangerous situation.
- wprl 4y agoThis video about how to wash off poison ivy changed my life. The key is that urushiol acts a lot like invisible motor oil in terms of how it sticks to your skin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oyoDRHpQK0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oyoDRHpQK0
- csours 4y agoThe answer in the video is Dawn liquid dishwashing soap and strong scrubbing with a cloth. I want a product that can show me where the oil is on my skin. I'm strongly affected by poison ivy. I sweat a lot, so I'm constantly touching my face. I've had bad rashes on my nose, eyebrows, and ears, amongst other places. I use a soapy cloth every time I think I've been in contact and I still miss places.
- aliqot 4y agowhy do a spot wash when it costs about a penny to wash from head to toe with it? it's worth it. also, naphtha bar soap works really well.
- csours 4y agoIt's not a matter of washing head to toe, it's a matter of scrubbing thoroughly enough everywhere and not missing a spot.
- ImprovedSilence 4y agoMy grandparents always swear by using "brown soap" if you think you've been exposed to poison ivy. aka Fels-Naptha. It's a pretty strong soap, but I don't think it contains naphtha anymore.
- aliqot 4y agounless the formula has changed drastically in the past 6 months, it works still. also works great to pre-soap a stain on your pants
- 4y ago
- aslfjiasf 4y ago44/55. I had zero information about what poison ivy looks like before playing this game. This game is very good at teaching (or I got lucky).
- chiph 4y agoTwo summers ago it took me 3 months to recover from a poison ivy "attack". I had washed it off with Dawn detergent but obviously didn't do a good enough job. Once I realized it had got me, I used large bandages to keep myself from scratching it in my sleep. I still have scars around my ankles & calves from the blisters. Now that I know I'm super sensitive to Urishiol I'm not taking any chances - I ALWAYS wear long pants and sleeves when in the woods.
- spearo77 4y agoIf this happens to you and you're in the US, head to urgent care. There are steroid based treatments that can reduce symptoms and speed recovery.
- eloisius 4y agoAs a kid I got really severe all-over-body poison ivy. Two decades later, I can’t eat mango despite how much I’d like to. Even if someone else peals it and cuts it up for me, I end up with an itchy rash around my mouth and tongue. Be careful.
- andrewflnr 4y agoWhoa, TIL. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15701120/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15701120/
- maxerickson 4y agoCashews too, though the thing at the store is yet further away from the urushiol than mango.
- andirk 4y agoThe mistake I made was allowing my ivy'd clothes to touch seat cushions and especially my bed sheets. I was touching fabrics that had the oils on it over and over and even sleeping in it. Wash everything that was involved in the incident!
- eyelidlessness 4y ago46/55, half of my wrong answers were false positives (those are better! I’d rather not take the chance). I’m pretty happy with that after 20 years living without the dreadful stuff. For folks who don’t already know: - three leaves in a cluster is a good warning sign - redness of the stem where the cluster meets is a telltale - the leaves generally have a point at the end, and may develop points along their sides - dry looking roots going vertical is a bad touch, just… don’t bother unless you’re escaping some other danger - If you’re like some of my family and get it from the wind, none of these guidelines have any value, I’m sorry!
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- onewheeltom 4y agoI was on a scout campout where someone burned poison ivy. My face was covered in blisters. Not pleasant.
- jaqalopes 4y agoI grew up around woods with a father who's super sensitive to PI. I thought he taught me how to identify it. Turns out I didn't learn very well—this quiz was very humbling.
- yborg 4y agoI used a string trimmer one summer to clear groundcover in the backyard without realizing that poison ivy had colonized the area among other weeds and English ivy growing there. I will never do any yardwork involving cutting without long pants on again, the trimmer efficiently shreds plant material into a slurry that sprays everywhere. I'd never been exposed to it before, the dermatologist had to tell me what happened to my legs.
- andirk 4y agoMy friend and his friends unknowingly burned a bunch while camping. They all had to go to the ICU the next day. Everyone was fine but it sounded painful and scary.
- bigmattystyles 4y agoYea, happens in the country (like Calaveras county in CA) where the concept of burn piles is still acceptable, even controlled by the local fire department. When I was very wee in the 80s I remember my dad doing this in town. I doubt the good people of San Jose would look kindly on it. That being said, there’s something about the smell of mildewed decomposing grass and shrubs burning that waxes nostalgic for me.
- andirk 4y agoFor me it's lack of smog requirements reminds me of traveling in Mexico as a wee lad. And these friends were from San Jose and went camping very close to Calaveras county haha.
- anyonecancode 4y agoWe moved into a new place a year ago, and I was impressed by how lush one of the trees were. Then I noticed those leaves weren't those of the tree -- it was a massive, ancient poison ivy vine. I spent a few weekends in gloves, long sleeves, pants, mask, and googles with a hacksaw. The vine was three vines twined around the tree trunk, each vine about the width of my lower arm. I cut out chunks of the vine at the base of the trunk, and it was immensely satisfying watching the vine's leaves droop and wither. A bit unnerving when some extra windy days scattered the dying leaves across the yard. Anyway, now (well, not literally right now as it's winter) I just take the occasional morning or afternoon and pare back any new growths and dig up more of the buried vine roots. Not sure what, if anything, I can do about the dead vine still wrapped around the tree, but at least the tree isn't competing with the vine for sunlight and air anymore.
- kerpotgh 4y ago[dead]
- swayvil 4y agoI rarely use glysophate. But when I find poison ivy in my flower beds I paint it on with a brush.
- habitue 4y agoThis test probably helps you improve your false positive rate (accidentally identifying a safe plant as poison ivy), but if you just want to avoid it, the "leaves of three, let it be" heuristic works pretty well. It's conservative, there are lots of things with three leaves that aren't poison ivy, but you at least won't get stung
- hosh 4y agoHowever, if you're intent is to gain skills in foraging or make medicinal uses of plants, then this is well worth the time to run through.
- habitue 4y agoYeah, I really enjoyed it
- micahdeath 4y agoI get it second hand... Someone caries firewood with it, then sits in a chair. Later I sit in the chair and poof, I have it for weeks. For me it usually ends with steroids as it doesn't go away. (Last 5 times I've had it has been this way.)
- noduerme 4y agoHyup. Last time I got it was from the arm of a chair too... no fun.
- bstpierre 4y agoI think my last round of it was second hand from myself on a pair of boots. Must have walked somewhere by it and gotten it on the laces, but didn’t actually get it on my skin, or washed well enough. Then on a day where I couldn’t possibly have gone near any ivy I ended up with a couple of spots on my fingers. And then again a week later before I realized it was probably on the boots. Fortunately just a minor inconvenience, but it’s crazy how the oil sticks around.
- fsckboy 4y ago
- montroser 4y ago> One way to learn to identify this plant is through sheer experience - to see it in its many forms, as well as similar-looking plants. You normally do this by tromping through the woods. I don't understand this. How does tromping through the woods and seeing many ivy-looking plants teach you anything, unless you have a way to know definitely which are poison ivy and which are not?
- avbor 4y agoWell I think the joke is that your skin will let you know once you pass the ivy whether it's Poison Ivy or not.
- superbatfish 4y agoThe answer is that once you’re able to definitively recognize it in at least one form, you’ll start to recognize similar, not quite identical forms. The sapling form is not quite the same as the vine form, which is not quite the same as the very thick hairy vine that it eventually transforms into. But once you know one, you can start to recognize the others due to at least some parts of the plant matching what you already know. And then the other parts of the plant, which you hadn’t previously recognized as being how poison ivy can look, are added to your personal visual memory, too. I don’t know, it’s hard to explain. It’s like if you saw a chihuahua and a Great Dane, you might not recognize them as being the same species. But if you see enough dogs in between, eventually you’ll see that they have something in common.
- trentearl 4y agoYour brain eventually learns to categorize plants into different buckets by noticing attributes. Poison Ivy is a vine but can trick people into thinking it's tree or a ground cover. If it's showing as a vine you just have to categorize the attributes of the other vines. Where I'm from there are only 3 or 4 common vines. Grape, Virginia Creeper and Poison ivy. Also there are non-natives: kudzu and english ivy, but they exist in more specific contexts. Your brain learns to categorize the attributes of these vines into different buckets and it sticks with you. Grape for example just kinda hangs around in the air with thick woody rope-like vines. Virginia creeper looks pretty similar to poison ivy, but really desperately hangs on to the trunk of trees. Poison ivy hangs on to the tree too buy tries to branch dramatically towards light often with parabolic woody branches. Mature Virginia creeper is hairy like poison ivy but the hairs are lighter, thicker and shorter than poison ivy. Your brain categorizes all these differences even if it doesn't know the name.
- metadat 4y agoPoison ivy is an easy one. Especially if you've been hiking in California, you've passed it on the trails when there is tree cover. The leaves look shiny because of the oil which in fact is the irritant part. Edit1: @Myrmornis: score: 100% The key: Not waxy (like typical ivy), but oily wet shiny. Edit2: @cortesoft: Yes poison ivy is common in California, just less common than poison oak. Both are abundant throughout northern California, especially in un-gardened and wilderness areas. Poison oak is super easy to identify because of the old "Leaves of 3, let them be" adage, combined with the distinct color and leaf shapes. Some of the common ones are a magnificently vibrant, almost "Hawaiian gecko -level" green like in this pic: https://www.aces.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hero-photo-scaled.jpg https://www.aces.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hero-photo-s... I'm pretty sure I'm actually immune to both of them, but not trying to press my luck. I'm also terrible at identifying plants but when they can hurt me or friends of mine suddenly it becomes easier to become familiar with their sight. If I can identify them, you can probably develop the skill even even more easily than I did after a few times.
- Myrmornis 4y agoWhat score did you get on the quiz?
- cortesoft 4y agoYou are thinking of poison oak; California doesn't really have poison ivy
- GoldenRacer 4y agoI'm from the east coast where there is also plenty of poison ivy and found it funny how my brain reacted to this quiz. Every time a picture of poison ivy appeared, I didn't even think about it, I just had an immediate uneasy feeling. It's like I've trained some subconscious part of my brain to identify and push me away from poison ivy.
- chongli 4y agoThe key: Not waxy (like typical ivy), but oily wet shiny Half the poison ivy pictures are taken from angles or with lighting that does not show the oily sheen so I keep making mistakes!
- roger10-4 4y agoI moved to a property on the East coast with a somewhat wild backyard and a lot of big oaks and maples. I kept away from anything I thought resembled poison ivy. One particular oak had a hairy vine wrapped around it that was 5-6" in diameter extending 60+ ft up into the canopy; it didn't have any leaves I could see. I removed it to keep it from choking the oak tree. I learned the hard way that poison ivy vines can get _really_ big and are hairy.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- lyjackal 4y agoI have a LOT of poison Ivy in my yard (3 acres in Michigan). Scored 53/55 (2 false positives). I’ve been trying to remove poison Ivy from certain patches for gardens with limited success. I’ve tried repeated mowing; dressing up in protective gear and ripping up roots in the wet months; covering the area in cardboard and planting over. These with for a bit, but doesn’t work well where the Ivy is well established. I’m trying to avoid herbicides since I don’t want to poison the earth. Anyone have similar experience and have any recommendations about what works for you? I’ve considered “goat rentals.” Wondering if they’re effective at ripping the roots out.
- kurthr 4y agoI was absolutely shocked how good my recognition was based on poison Oak identification. You get really good at seeing something in the dark out of the corner of your eye and going... DANGER!
- marymkearney 4y agoIMO this is one of the very few "good" use cases for herbicides. Glyphosate works. If you don't want to spray, triclopyr ("Cut Stump and Vine Killer") can be dabbed on the cut woody stems at ground level. It's a pain for a big area, but it works, and it doesn't touch anything else. Winter's a good time to do it.
- stirfish 4y agoGet a goat! I don't know how effective they are at ripping out roots either, but goats are cool.
- sacnoradhq 4y agoCONUS south: poison sumac (Toxicodendron vernix) <- most toxic due to C13 configuration CONUS eastern half of US: poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) <- C15 Northern or Western poison ivy (Toxicodendron rydbergii) Western poison oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum) <- C17 Eastern poison oak (Toxicodendron pubescens) --- Other uroshiol-related flora: Cashew nut tree (the cashew apple) Florida holly Ginkgo tree Indian marking nut tree Japanese lacquer tree --- "Toxicodendron Toxicity" 2022 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK557866/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK557866/
- onionisafruit 4y agoTIL I've been careful to avoid Virginia Creeper for most of my life.
- heavyset_go 4y agoI didn't see a lot (or any) pictures of what poison ivy looks like once its dominated a habitat for a while, like the woody trunks it develops as it grows uninhibited on trees. I lived in an area that had under-controlled poison ivy overgrowth, and it was always a challenge to convince people that poison ivy can look differently than what's expected once it's developed unimpeded for years.
- hotpockets 4y agoI agree, one time I had know idea what this young "tree" was, it looked like an ash sapling, but it was a flowering poison ivy. Couldn't see the classic poison ivy "thumbs" either. Something like this: https://www.maine.gov/dacf/php/gotpests/weeds/images/poison-ivy/PI-flower-big.jpg https://www.maine.gov/dacf/php/gotpests/weeds/images/poison-...
- hotpockets 4y agoI got all of them right up to like 30 of them. But can we discuss something? none of the look-a-likes were the hardest one, at least in my neck of the woods. Box elder saplings. That's all, I just find it odd that so many of these poison ivy things don't include more of it. Maybe the author's don't live in Box elder zones.
- marymkearney 4y agoYes agree, most common lookalike, especially seedlings, and the hardest to distinguish. The opposite, usually square, branching is distinctive, but it's a subtle difference. Once the pattern recognition kicks in, you can do it at a glance, but it took me a couple years.
- hotpockets 4y ago!00% and they can both a bit opportunistic in new growing areas like dried up seasonal pools. Personally I think it's a bit funny that virginia/thicket creepers show up in these, but I also think they should because it's instructive for newbs.
- menzoic 4y agowheres the leaderboard at?
- rapjr9 4y agoThis stuff helps get rid of the oil that causes the blisters so it heals faster, Tecnu: https://smile.amazon.com/Tecnu-Extreme-Removes-Poisonous-Itching/dp/B0007IOVZK https://smile.amazon.com/Tecnu-Extreme-Removes-Poisonous-Itc...
- simple10 4y agoThe worst is in the winter when poison ivy or oak loses its leaves. It's almost impossible to detect, at least for me. Years ago, I was hiking with a friend on a ridge south of San Francisco. It was February and warm weather so I was wearing shorts. To get around a fence and do a bit of light trespassing on public lands, we followed what turned out to be a game trail. Half way down the hill, the trail led into what looked like a patch of brambles. It was all twigs as the leaves had fallen off. Not wanting to turn back and miss out on the adventure, we pushed through. Huge mistake. The twigs scraped up our legs and sent urushiol (the active ingredient in poison oak & ivy) mainlining into our blood streams. A week later, I ended up in the emergency room with legs too swollen to walk and giant inflamed lymph nodes. My wife, pregnant at the time, also ended up with a severe case simply because I had so much urushiol oil on my skin it spread to her. The oil doesn't come off unless you scrub it hard like trying to remove motor oil with a degreasing agent. I couldn't walk properly or fit shoes over my swollen feet for a week. On the plus side, during the peak of the suffering, warm showers are bizarrely euphoric, borderline orgasmic, as the water gently itches the skin. Anyone who's had a bad case of ivy know the feeling.
- hackernewds 4y agoThis is your lesson it seems to stay on the trails - it is good for you and the integrity of the environment which is not to be overly trodden so others may enjoy it as well.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- simple10 4y agoThis depends a lot on the area. Most places I like to go are backcountry without trails. But in high traffic areas with lots of nature tourists, it's a good idea to respect the erosion control areas, especially in the desert with fragile topsoil.
- saiya-jin 4y agoMore like wear long trousers for number of reasons, this and general scratches being very frequent in almost any terrain. There are cheap fabrics who are better than bare skin even in scorching heat, plus you protect your skin from sunburns and some bad insects. I seem to possess skill of losing not so used trails easily or doing some shortcuts which end up changing pleasant hikes into hardcore, often survival ones. I mean i have tons of experience and even returned few times (but only few, mind works against you here), but also thanx to that I see how ie 1 slip or loose rock at some crux place can be easily fatal, but most places are fine even if scary to beginners. Or wading through thick bushes with ie this Ivy due to trails gradually disappearing and only later realizing they were from animals like op.
- radium3d 4y agoI removed a poison oak plant from our yard last year and it splattered on my arms somehow from the stems. I had rashes on my arms for a month. Weird thing was it felt AMAZING to put scalding hot water on my arms after a few days, and after doing it the itch / pain would be gone for about 6 hours. I could then repeat the hot water method and it always felt amazing, I almost miss it. lol Hope that plant is gone for good!
- waltbosz 4y agoI'm going to make my kids play this until they score perfectly every time. Our backyard is teaming with several of these plants.
- emmelaich 4y agoWow I got a perfect score .. of zero. My favourite encounter was when hiking around in England. Saw a beautiful little lake, walked to it and realised way too late it was surrounded by Poison Ivy. Then again, it was nothing compared to my encounter with Gympie Gympie[0] near Dorrigo. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendrocnide_moroides https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendrocnide_moroides
- mnd999 4y agoIn England? I’ve never heard of it growing this side of the pond.
- thinkingemote 4y agoNew England? No posion ivy in the UK. There is normal ivy of course which can be an irritant if crushed a lot, much more concerning and dangerous is giant hogweed.
- KaiserPro 4y agoWhen I did camp america, we were warned about poison ivy, but not really shown what it was. This would have been really useful. As I had grown up in england, I hadn't really twigged how much of a pain in the dick poison ivy is, how slow it is to react, and how it gets worse with repeated exposure. By the end of the 6 months, I had a good idea what it looked like, and where its likley to live. But it wasn't second nature like avoiding brambles and nettles.
- pvaldes 4y agoIn Europe, the main equivalent would be the giant hogweed Heracleum mantegazzianum. Several Rhus and Cotinus can be found in gardens but they normally don't cause problems unless mowed. Fig trees can be surprisingly dangerous also. If you are allergic to Poison ivy you probably want to avoid cashews nuts (watch for them in cocktail mixes). The nuts can trigger an allergy in sensitive people if eaten. Poison ivy is a relative of the cashew.
- KaiserPro 4y agoOoo I didn't know about fig trees. I've had rashes from euphorbia sap and dried giant hogsweed, I used it as a stick, that was a mistake.
- 11235813213455 4y agoI'm touching all kind of plants, nettles, .. sometimes you have a small skin reaction, but no big deal. It's probably more important to know how to differentiate edible mushrooms (and the ones that can be eaten raw). Also usually, flashy plants are more toxic, but not 100% reliable, smell also helps
- trentearl 4y agoI got all but one, somewhat surprisingly red maple tricked me. During university I spent a lot of time in the Carolina woods where poison ivy is abundant. At first you notice the disgusting oily leaves, hairy wood, green spring time berries and the leaves (of three let it be) that come in multiple colors with ample stems often with a dark reddish tint. The leaves come in varying shapes, older seems to be rounder, younger with wide serrations looking similar to red maple. I'm proud to have gotten to the next level, where it seems you just feel the evil presence. Not only intuitively by ecosystem context, but also by the shape of the growth as a whole. This allows you to identify it the winter and from impressively long distances. Poison ivy is an enemy to the forest explorer, setting up blockades around water features and meadows. The oil can stay on surfaces for what seems like years. I truly hate this plant.
- greenbit 4y agoOnce you tangle with it, you can't help but study it, learn what it looks like in all seasons, what kinds of places it likes to grow. It seems to like the sunny edges of clearings, and hard rocky places other plants reject. So naturally it loves to crowd up against places humans tend to travel - beside trails and pathways, the edges of roads. Note the PI patch in summer with the oily leaves, watch it turn bright colors early in autumn, and memorize the look of the field of bare, upright knee-high sticks it leaves behind in the winter. It's cruel irony that it doesn't bother wildlife, just humans.
- throwawaygo 4y ago[flagged]
- dang 4y agoIt is a great submission, very much in the classic HN style. More than that, it belongs to a rare class: the ones that aren't correlated with anything else. We want more of these! (Thank you marymkearney) When I say we want more of these, I don't mean more poison ivy posts or more boolean quiz posts, etc.; I mean the opposite: things that can't be predicted from any recent sequence (https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sort=byDate&type=comment&query=can%27t%20predict%20sequence%20by:dang https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sor...). Re the other posts you complained about, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34652754 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34652754 was fine, and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34647971 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34647971 is ok too—although the psychedelic/therapy theme has been hyperdiscussed, there's arguably significant new information in that story. I wonder if you're under a misimpression about what's supposed to be on topic here? https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html p.s. Can you please stop posting unsubstantive comments?
- marymkearney 4y agoDang, this made my week. Dang liked my post? This is the highest HN honor ever! Thank you sir. I'm glad you liked it and that others did too. I enjoyed the link and that's why I posted it.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- syngrog66 4y agoUrushiol sounds like a demon or orcish leader from Tolkien. Makes it memorable, and gives a hint of evil tidings.
- stigi 4y agoLeafs of three let it be. Leafs of four eat some more.
- RickJWagner 4y agoLeaves of 3, let it be! (Old Boy Scout saying)