Poison Ivy
Poison Oak
Poison Sumac
Information about poison ivy, oak, sumac and the skin rashes they cause
Information about poison ivy, oak, sumac and the skin rashes they cause
This plant started as a ground vine, then found a post to climb up, and when the post ended it "exploded" in all directions, looking for sun or for something else to climb up.
Here is a look under the vines as it "explodes" in all directions. This is basically a poison ivy plant gone berserk.
Here is a bush in summer and in winter. A ground vine found a tree stump, climbed up, and when there was nothing left to climb, it "exploded" in all directions.
This is not very common, but important to know about: these poison ivy vines seem to have started out as ground vines and then grown higher and higher with nothing to climb on. In the end, they come as close to being small poison ivy trees as I have ever seen.
These are also ground vines that have grown really big and thick: about 2-3 feet tall, they act as a fifty-foot barrier between you and the ocean. (There is a bit of 5-leafed Virginia creeper mixed in.)
A bike rack has been overwhelmed by ground vines that are so large they form a bush.
Look closely: the trunk is a dead tree, covered with poison ivy vines. When they reach the top, they "explode" in all directions, looking for sun and for the next thing to climb up.
Two more examples of poison ivy climbing up and then reaching way out to form a shrub.