Poison Ivy, Oak, and Sumac Information Center

Is This Poison Ivy?

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Submitted by:  James Nicholl
Date Submitted: 7/6/2003
Location: Scarsdale, NY

Question Asked: The attached photos were taken in Scarsdale, NY in our wooded back yard. Some of it runs along the ground and one picture is along a tree base. My wife ended up have a severe allergic reaction that took two hospital visits and three weeks to get under control and now she will not go outside in the back until I get rid of it all. Have never seen any of the poison plants before so need your help in identifying the culprits.

Answer: Hi James -

For having never seen poison ivy before, you certainly did a good job of pinpointing the plants in your yard. In the first 2 pictures, we see standing above or coming out of the pachysandra poison ivy plants. It's those 3 leaflet per leaf, woody vines. Ditto on picture 3 - this is a nicer shot as you can see a better view of the woody vine. Notice the egg-shaped leaflets. Poison ivy is highly variable so sometimes you'll see some teeth or lobes and sometimes the margins (edges) will be smooth. Picture 4 again is primarily poison ivy but there is other stuff there as well. There is some english ivy on the left side (green glossy leaves with whitish veins). English ivy is generally invasive and for some people can cause dermatitis. For picture 5 - I can't tell you what those plants are. I don't have a good idea of exactly what the leaves look like but I can tell you based on what I see that there isn't any poison ivy there.