Has anyone ever seen poison ivy grow upright?

[Budman]

Today I saw what appeared to be poison ivy growing upright like a tree. I looked closely to make sure that it wasn't just a poison ivy vine growing up a tree, but this one had a woody trunk about two inches in diameter and was about 8 feet high. I know that it can take on the form of a low shrub, but I have never seen it like this. Could this be something other than poison ivy? It had the classic three-leaf triplets all over it - looked like a lot of pictures that I had seen. I would like to identify it so that I can decide if it needs to come down.

Thanks!

[Rooster]

Can you take a picture and post the picture?

That would be a lot easier to identify.

Also, you may be able to call your county and ask for weed control, they may come and identify it for you.

Rick

[BigJim]

This site should help,most Ivy species will develop thich trunks in time.http://www.gpnc.org/poison.htm

[TLS]

Budman,

Take a few of the leaves and perform a "Scientific Poision Ivy Test". This will let you know exactly what it is in about 24 hrs, plus its totally free!




Heres how the test works....Take a handfull of the suspects leaves, and wipe them all over your body, dont forget the genital region. Now just wait 24 hrs and, well, then you'll know.

:eek:

You name the part of the body, and I've had it there!

Yeah, there too! :rolleyes:

[hoagie]

Uncle hoagie performed that unfortunate experiment last month.

Most people assume if there are no leaves on the vine, you can't get the rash. Not so... I was cleaning up a brush pile when the customer said he wanted all the "weeds" clipped from the fence. I said aw what the hell, it was a good customer and there were no leaves right!
Well... that night I had a little itchys on the hand, no big deal... 2nd day I had it all over both arms, legs, face and the entire undercarrige:eek:
I WILL NEVER, EVER touch poison anything again.. even w/ gloves and a chemical suit on!

[yardman1]

i would have to agree with TLS on that one, that is the best way to I.D. poison ivy. I don't even have to get it on me, i can just look at it real hard and i will start itching. :blob2:

[mckell68]

Hello,

yes, poison ivy can grow vertically. The vine is woody with many "hair- like " roots that come off the main stem. These are what hold the vine to the object. It is not the plant per se that gives you the rash, but the oil that it secretes.
The oil is nasty stuff--it has to be washed off within minutes in order to stop the rash. Do not ever burn poison ivy as the oil can become air borne and be inhaled into the lungs--which is a trip the the hospital!!

There is a old ryhme taught to school kids---LEAVES OF THREE--STAY AWAY FROM ME--

the plant has three leaves that come off the main stem part.
they turn red in the fall and sometimes have white berries.

[Richard Martin]

Just to add a little to what mckell68 said, Poison Ivy is a natural climber. Hence the word Ivy in it's name.

[David Haggerty]

It's got a whopping root system by the time it starts doing that. It'll be a bear to kill it out. this is a good time to hit it with the Roundup though, while it's growing.


Leaves of three, let it be.. my azz
Kill 'em all! would be a better slogan for poison ivy!

The more you catch it, the more alergic you become. For me every encounter is a systemic reaction. I break out everywhere I get warm. Under my belt, betweeen my fingers etc. I could croak from a really good case of it.

Thanks for the post though, I just took my first dose of Oral Ivy for the season. I'll take it every day till fall.

BTW it's against the law to burn poison ivy here.

Dave

[garydale]

Just a few more cautions on poison ivy.

Don't burn is very,very important!
Oil will stay on things like Weed eater head,mower deck etc.
I have a friend who didn't catch it,Work in it, then his wife got it bad from doing his laundry days later.
Kids have gotten it from petting family dog.

Serious stuff.

[P. Nelson]

What is Oral Ivy? Is it something that prevents poison Ivy? Can it be bought over the couter?

[yardmonkey]

Here's an old thread where I tell the story of when I first saw a poison ivy "tree":
http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?threadid=206

And another interesting one:
http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?threadid=16959

I wanted to add that I did once work on a huge (2' trunk) tree that had leaves that looked almost EXACTLY like poison ivy. I never did get an ID on the tree but Complete Trees of North America by Elias shows 2 trees with 3 leaflets. I'm sure it was one of those 2 trees but I didn't figure out which one. I don't have time to look through and find them now. (one is the common hop tree)

[Budman]

Thanks for the replies, guys!

BTW, TLS, I don't think that I can perform the "Scientific Poision Ivy Test" that you suggested because I have never had a reaction to it! :D In fact, I used to be able to play with it when I was a kid. :eek: Of course, I'm not one to tempt fate, so that is why I want to identify whatever it is that is growing on my property.

And Yardmonkey, I would love to see some info about the trees that you described that looked just like poison ivy. That might be what this is. One thing I did notice about it - it does not have the "hairs" on the stems and trunk that have been described by some. Also, I have read that young leaves are usually a reddish color starting out in the spring, and all of these are bright green. So I guess the jury's still out. If I can find a digital camara I will take a picture of it and post it. Thanks for all the help.

[yardmonkey]

I'll try to dig through the book and find the other tree. I just posted a msg at arboristsite.com here: http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3593
So maybe someone will have some more info there.

[yardmonkey]

Also - pretty sure that poison ivy will have reddish leaves in the fall and not in the spring. Just saw my first poison ivy of the year today - in two different yards. Very green leaves, a bit on the light side, very evenly colored. I think later in the summer the leaves can be a bit "blotchy" or not so evenly colored and then in the fall they may be reddish. Some gardening books even mention it as a vine that can be used to add color.

[yardmonkey]

OK, I found the other tree in the book. It is the torchwood tree. The drawing of the leaves on this one really looks like poison ivy. But this tree is only found in some parts of the east coast of Florida, so that's not what you are seeing. The common hoptree is related to the torchwood, both are in the citrus family. This tree is found in the southeastern US, including Kentucky. The drawing seems to show that the three parts of the leaflet are almost connected at the bottom, that is there isn't much or any stem separating each of the leaflets from each other. Whereas I think if you look at poison ivy, the middle leaflet has a distinctly longer stem to it. (I don't think its actually called a stem, I don't know the correct term)

One thing you might do is see if the county extension agent can come out and look at it, or take a sample in to him or to an arborist.

[yardmonkey]

The first reply at arboristsite mentions maples. I'm not seeing too many maples that resemble poison ivy at all, except the boxelder, which looks like it may be common in Kentucky. The leaves are arranged in 3 leaflets (sometimes 5 - and poison ivy may sometimes have 5 or more also) - and they have teeth, so they aren't thay close to poison ivy, but maybe close enough to be confusing. Also, like the hoptree, there doesn't seem to be a distinctly longer stem for the middle leaflet.

You may want to check out a good tree book and look up the common hoptree and the boxelder. There may be some good online sources. I know there are tons of pictures of poison ivy online.

[Budman]

Yardmonkey,

Thanks for all of the help! I did a search on Box Elder, and now I think that this might be what it is. Leaves are not quite as notched as in the picture, but that might be because they are immature. I'm just going to keep an eye on it for now and see what it does. I will probably have to take it out eventually anyway because a pole barn will be built next too it and it will be too close if it gets big. Do you think the tree that you cut down may have been a Box Elder?

http://www.enature.com/fieldguide/showSpecies_LI.asp?imageID=19843&page=beautyl.asp


Thanks again!

[yardmonkey]

Well I didn't take that one down, I just took some limbs off. So its still on my list to get that one ID'ed. I'll try to remember to post here if I do.

[HOWARD JONES]

Yardmonkey, I have to disagree slightly about the red leaves - in fall they turn beautiful shades of orange, red and yellow, in the spring the new growth has a very shiny look with a strong hint of red, especially around the leaf edges, a very different look than the fall red.