It's in the thorns or bristles. Red raspberry has bristles on the stem. Black raspberry has thorns. Poison ivy has neither. The stem (vine) will be woody in appearance. The aerial rootlets are tiny growths which look like stubby, little roots. Go here to see a picture of young poison ivy - you can clearly see the aerial rootlets at the point where the plant is peeking through the fence. They are the little brown protrusions from the stem.
Even though poison ivy has leaf variation, there is a "feel" to the plant. How it looks and presents itself is so different I find from the brambles (raspberry, blackberry, dewberry, etc.). Look at some of the pictures of poison ivy in our Is it poison ivy? section and I think you'll see what I mean. |
