The goal is to get as much as of the plant’s poisonous oil off of your skin as possible and the best way to do that is with cool or cold water using high pressure. You have about 30 minutes to minimize the damage. If you come into contact with one of these plants, don’t panic.
What to Do when You Touch Poison Ivy, Oak, or Sumac Winged sumac is identifiable by the “winged” growths that flank the stems between leaves. In comparison, the non-poisonous staghorn sumac’s leaves have jagged edges and tight bunches of berries that stand upright. The stems coming off the main trunk are red and the leaves’ edges are smooth, not saw-toothed. You find it in very wet areas along the east coast, Great Lakes, and along the coastline of the southeastern states. Relatively rare, the small poison sumac tree is related to poison ivy and poison oak, not to the much more common sumac tree. The plant is as harmful as eastern poison ivy when it burns during wildfires people often wind up in the hospital. It grows as both ground and climbing vines as well as shrubs.
Pacific poison oak is mainly found in California, but you also see it in Washington and Oregon. It grows as a ground vine or small shrub and seems to prefer dryer, sandy ground. Identifying Atlantic Poison OakĪlthough not nearly as common, Atlantic poison oak looks practically identical to poison ivy. The plants also never have thorns or leaves with scalloped or saw-toothed edges. Pacific poison oak grows all along the west coast but is particularly problematic in California.īoth varieties share the same commonalities as poison ivy: the leaves always grow in groups of three and from left to right, never side by side. The Atlantic version is not common and is virtually indistinguishable from poison ivy. There are also two types of poison oak: Atlantic and Pacific. In the east, the plant interbreeds with its eastern cousin. Also, many western states don’t have it at all. Western poison ivy is a ground vine that’s just as dangerous as the eastern variety, but you have to actually look for it. It appears in every state from the Midwest to the east coast, and in just about any habitat: beaches, near roads and highways, paths, ponds, and streams. You find eastern poison ivy on the ground, as a climbing plant, and as shrubbery. It earned the moniker because it’s the only type that grows in the majority of western states.īoth types of poison ivy have certain things in common. On the other hand, western poison ivy is found in states across America. As the name implies, eastern poison ivy is found in the eastern part of the country (with a few localized areas in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas). There are two types of poison ivy – Eastern and Western.
Western poison ivy how to#
This post teaches you how to identify poison ivy, oak, and sumac and includes instructions on what to do if you come into contact with them. But nothing puts a damper on your fun like unexpected contact with poison ivy. The itchy blister fluid does not contain the toxin and is therefore not contagious.With warmer weather comes camping trips, hiking, long walks among the trees, and generally more time in the great outdoors. Itchy blisters may appear promptly or not for 24 hours or longer. Washing later may wash off the residual toxin and prevent its spread. Washing the affected skin within one to three minutes with cold water and soap may help prevent the itchy symptoms. The oily toxin from poison ivy is almost immediately absorbed through human skin. It similarly has three leaflets, but sarsaparilla is distinguished by a pair of leaflets further down the stem. Sarsaparilla is a low-growing plant that grows profusely in the BWCAW. Sarsaparilla plants are sometimes misidentified as poison ivy. It grows in a variety of ecosystems, but particularly likes sun and dislikes permanently wet soils. One can also identify poison ivy by where it grows. Visual characteristics include: (1) three leaflets (“leaves of three, let it be”) (2) a short woody stem that may look like a brown twig sticking out of the ground (3) oftentimes growing in colonies standing about knee high or shorter (4) green leaves changing to fall colors in autumn (5) leaves oftentimes have a wilted appearance and (6) the western poison ivy species in the BWCAW is not a climbing plant. One can identify poison ivy by how it looks.
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