Poison Ivy, Oak, and Sumac Information Center

Is This Poison Ivy?

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Submitted by:  Casey Harris
Date Submitted: 6/27/03
Location: Dallas, TX

Question Asked: First picture: I have been expoed to something nasty in a new yard of mine(or so I think). I live just outside of Dallas, TX... so here is the problem... I am now running the course of a secondary exposure (or primary re-exposure) to something I seem to be quite allergic to.... I suspect poison oak or ivy. I have three photos.... this first picture is fairly suspect although not my most wanted. leaves of three, but oddly shaped. There will be two more submissions since I can only do one photo at a time.

Second picture: second picture is my new worry.... I went looking around the yard I mowed and discovered this.... this worries me not through direct exposure because it is tucked away behind a shed that I cannot hit with the weed eater, but my CAT hides out under this shed. I have the rash healing on my legs and my arms were just exposed again in the last few days. This picture worries me because my cat would have been exposed then rubbed up against my legs... or exposed and me scoop her up into my arms...

Third picture: third picture isn't really a threat... I am not real familiar with poison sumac, but I know I cut a WHOLE LOT of this stuff up with my weed eater on the initial exposure date. Just tell me this isn't poison sumac.

Answer: Hi Casey -

I'll start off with the easy ones. The last picture (#3) is not poison sumac. I've seen it before but don't have the name right off (sorry - I normally spend more time researching the plants but am just far behind these days). I can say though authoritatively that it is not poison sumac just based on the plant characterisitics and habitat. Now the first picture also is not a candidate. That is a vine which uses tendrils to climb coupled with the leaflet characteristics rules out our usual suspect of poison ivy or oak. So let's look closely at picture #2. I wish I could see more of the plant characterisitics. In this picture it would seem that there are a couple plants mixed in together. The one of concern is the lighter green leaf with 3 leaflets. The general shape looks right but I can't see the stem well enough to say positively. I'd lean towards this being poison ivy.