How to Spot (and Handle) Poison Ivy

Would you recognize poison ivy if you stumbled upon it during a summer hike, or even found it lingering in your backyard garden?

The common plant, which grows throughout most of the North American continent and is typically found along trails and roads, can be hard to identify, changing colors with each season - appearing dark green in the summer and taking on a red, orange or yellow hue during the fall.

The plant is most easily recognized by its leaves, which come in threes alternating down the stem.

According to Poison Ivy Gone, an Oakland-based company that specializes in removing the plant, there are few ways to safely rid the yard without being exposed to the symptoms: including redness and swelling, irritation, and, if scratched too much, possible infection of the red blisters its oil produces.

Weed killers will work to kill the plant, but the local experts warn that pesticides leave leftover vines that are no longer identifiable as poison ivy, but still spread the oil on contact.

Other methods used to kill poison ivy include covering it with black plastic or clipping the vines, but both can take years to fully stifle the plant, the company says. The only way to safely remove the plant immediately is to dig the vine out at its roots, which requires extra precautions in covering up your skin, as the prolonged exposure can leave a serious rash.

Even if one identifies the plant properly and avoids it when outdoors, symptoms can arise even from indirect contact, its oil spreading on clothing, shoes or even pets.

A common misconception about the plant is that the rashes it leaves behind are contagious, but actually the symptoms stem from an allergic reaction and not from infection. Once the oil dissipates, poison ivy can’t be spread through skin-to-skin contact.

If you do should knowingly come into contact with the plant, its oily can be washed away with cold water, or symptoms may take hold within about 12 to 48 hours.