Information about poison ivy, oak, sumac and the skin rashes they cause
There is plenty of poison ivy by the side of roads throughout New England and in fact, all over the Eastern US. But this mess was a standout. The patch of ivy is about 8 feet deep and about 50 yards long. You could not possibly get to that utility pole without wading through the poison ivy.
Our newest Hall of Fame member got this rash by wandering into some poison ivy while seeking a place to "commune with nature" after having a bit too much to drink.
A viewer sent in these photos of poison ivy growing on the fence between his house and his neighbor's house. This is one of the most impresssive poison ivy monsters I have ever seen, both in terms of the vine and the massive size of individual leaves.
I drove past this house today and noticed that the lovely front yard tree was totally covered in a monster wrapping of poison ivy. Took a quick snapshot, but I should go back and leave a note for them. This is a nightmare waiting to happen.
Along the Atlantic coast, particularly in Massachusetts, I have seen many places like this, where there is a mass of 50 to 100 feet of solid poison ivy along the beach. This was taken on Boston's North Shore, but both Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard have places like this.
I noticed a 50 foot cliff behind some dumpsters, in back of a building in Boston. I thought the very lush growth on the cliff looked familiar, and it was. This is a huge growth of poison ivy, all the way up the cliff.
Basically, poison ivy is a vine. It usually runs along the ground or climbs up trees and walls.
However, in some cases, it grows into a shrub, and this backyard monster is one of the nastiest we have seen: sent into us by a viewer wondering if this shrub could really be poison ivy.
I got an email today asking if poison ivy ever has flowers, which is a good question. It can have flowers, but they are so tiny that they are often missed. The photo shows the flowers and the berries that they turn into.
Now that spring has finally arrived, the poison ivy is going bonkers, growing fast up here in the north. Down south, it is already in full leaf, with flowers and berries not far behind.
Apologies for the super-grody photo, but this lady wants you to avoid what she has been going through!
If there is any possibility that you have been around poison ivy, DO NOT rub your eyes, or any other sensitive area of the body, or you could get a rash like this one.
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