{"id":1873,"date":"2020-12-09T11:35:13","date_gmt":"2020-12-09T18:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/?p=1873"},"modified":"2020-12-09T13:55:30","modified_gmt":"2020-12-09T20:55:30","slug":"poison-ivy-leaves-of-three-let-it-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/science\/poison-ivy-leaves-of-three-let-it-be\/","title":{"rendered":"Poison Ivy: Leaves of Three, Let it Be"},"content":{"rendered":"

Children and adults alike often know the short, catchy phrase, \u201cleaves of three, let it be,\u201d by the time they attend a naturalist-led program. Great! Less certain, however, is their detailed knowledge of the plant described by the saying. What exactly is poison ivy? Where might I find it? What makes it poisonous? How might it hurt me? What use is it anyway?<\/p>\n

Poison ivy is a glossy-leaved, woody plant in the sumac\/cashew plant family. It grows in inches-tall patches to shoulder high thickets. Botanically, our version is Toxicodendron rydbergii. \u201cToxicodendron\u201d (toxic-tree) is in the first part of the name (the genus tells it like it is). That same genus contains poison oak and poison sumac.<\/p>\n

Poison ivy is relatively common in Boulder County. It thrives in various habitats, from weedy ditch banks and shady riparian areas, to leafy tangles among rock piles and the edges of trails in the foothills. The flowers are small\u2014not showy or eye-catching. Although leaves may be attractively bronze-colored when they first appear in spring, and turn brilliant red in fall, for most of the year they are mere patches of plain green leaves\u2014all too easy to step into inadvertently.<\/p>\n

Botanists call the \u201cleaves of three\u201d ternate, with three leaflets coming from a single stem. But this is not especially helpful. Other common plants are also ternate\u2014think clover (even if you hope to find a lucky four-leaved one). Think skunkbush or lemonade bush, a shrubby plant of the foothills, with blunt ternate leaves that grows in a rounded mound, not a sprawl. It is poison ivy\u2019s glossiness and slightly drooping leaves that are the best giveaway.<\/p>\n

What is the poison?<\/h2>\n

An oil called urushiol (u-ROO-she-ol) causes a contact dermatitis\u2014a blistering rash\u2014in sensitive people who brush against the plant\u2019s leaves, roots, stems, flowers, or fruit. It does not take much. One online page claimed that an amount of urushiol oil, as small as would coat a pinhead, is enough to affect 500 people. Take that factoid with a grain of salt!<\/p>\n

If you do encounter poison ivy, the best response is to quickly wash off the oils. Use soap and water, if available. Use alcohol wipes if that is what is handy. Much better is to be prepared. Know how to recognize the plant. Wear long sleeves and long pants. Tuck your pants into your socks if you need be in poison ivy territory. And if you must eradicate a patch of poison ivy on your property, dress for the occasion. Cover up and wear gloves. Dispose of the plant material with care. Do not compost it, the bits will resprout too readily. Do not burn it, the smoke contains urushiol and harms your breathing.<\/p>\n

So, are you spooked yet, wondering what possible value poison ivy has?<\/p>\n

Like most things in nature, there are offsetting pluses. Unlike humans and apes, other animals show no ill effects from touching or eating poison ivy. Even your pets do not react, although they may carry the oils in on their fur and spread to you as you fondly stroke them. Some birds, such as woodpeckers, warblers, and vireos relish poison ivy berries. They may be a favorite winter food when alternatives are few. Deer, bears, and rabbits are known to eat the berries, stems, and leaves. Animals even use the thickets as shelter from enemies and\/or the weather! So they are definitely not worthless plants!<\/p>\n

One acquaintance of mine saw a gorgeous patch of attractive red leaves and thought the vegetation would make an eye-catching wreath for his front door during the holidays. You guessed? Now you know why to heed that famous warning, \u201cLeaves of three, let it be!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Poison<\/a>
Most of the year, poison ivy grows in, \u201cmere patches of plain green leaves\u2014all too easy to step into inadvertently.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Poison<\/a>
Poison ivy berries appear in late summer or early fall. They are as poisonous to humans as the rest of the plant.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Children and adults alike often know the short, catchy phrase, \u201cleaves of three, let it be,\u201d by the time they attend a naturalist-led program. Great! Less certain, however, is their detailed knowledge of the plant described by the saying. What exactly is poison ivy? Where might I find it? What makes it poisonous? How might […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1874,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-1873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","tag-winter-2020"],"yoast_head":"\nPoison Ivy: Leaves of Three, Let it Be - Images<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/science\/poison-ivy-leaves-of-three-let-it-be\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Poison Ivy: Leaves of Three, Let it Be - Images\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Children and adults alike often know the short, catchy phrase, \u201cleaves of three, let it be,\u201d by the time they attend a naturalist-led program. 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Toad warts look slightly like human warts, but toad warts and people warts are not one bit\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Detectives"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Detectives","link":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/category\/nature-detectives\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Nature Detectives","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/nd.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/nd.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/nd.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/nd.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/nd.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/nd.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1933,"url":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/nature-detectives\/daddy-long-legs\/","url_meta":{"origin":1873,"position":3},"title":"Daddy Long-legs & The Playground Myth","author":"Staff","date":"03\/01\/2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Have you ever wondered about daddy long-legs? You might know they aren\u2019t spiders, even though they certainly resemble spiders with their eight flimsy legs. Maybe you spotted a daddy long-legs on the school playground? They are fairly common to find in shady places such as under a slide, beside the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Detectives"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Detectives","link":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/category\/nature-detectives\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Nature Detectives - Daddy Long Legs","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/nd.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/nd.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/nd.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/nd.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/nd.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1927,"url":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/science\/wetland-vips\/","url_meta":{"origin":1873,"position":4},"title":"Wetland VIPs\u2014Very Important Plants","author":"Staff","date":"03\/01\/2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Cattails. Rushes. Sedges. They\u2019re the big three of wetlands, flowering plants that dominate marshy areas. Yet to many of us, they are little-noticed green fringes along the margins of lakes and ponds. These plants offer food, shelter, and homesites to mammals, birds, insects, and other creatures living in and around\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Science"","block_context":{"text":"Science","link":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/category\/science\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Wetlands","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/wetlands.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/wetlands.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/wetlands.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/wetlands.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/wetlands.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/wetlands.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2915,"url":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/nature-studies\/cactus-close-up-ouch\/","url_meta":{"origin":1873,"position":5},"title":"Cactus Close-up: Ouch!","author":"Summer Alameel","date":"09\/01\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Among the roughly 1,500 kinds of plants that grow in Boulder County, very few fight back. Cacti \u2014 or is it cactuses? \u2014 are the exception. (Either word is grammatically correct.) Cacti are desert-adapted and evolved to protect themselves from munching creatures seeking moisture and sustenance from the succulent stems.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Studies"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Studies","link":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/category\/nature-studies\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A barrel cactus with bright purple flowers","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/pediocactus-simpsonii.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/pediocactus-simpsonii.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/pediocactus-simpsonii.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/pediocactus-simpsonii.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/pediocactus-simpsonii.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/pediocactus-simpsonii.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1873"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1873\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1878,"href":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1873\/revisions\/1878"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}