northeast-flora-and-fauna

Leaves of three, let it be. Hairy rope, don't be a dope. || Hairy vine, no friend of mine. Berries of white, run in fright. || Berries of white, danger in sight. This Eastern Poison Ivy plant does an excellent job of demonstrating plant's hairy vine appearance. Leaves, vines, and berries of this plant all contain urushiol (YOO-roo-shee-awl), a durable chemical that usually causes an allergic reaction when it penetrates the skin. If anything, this picture illustrates the hairiness too well; I frequently see thinner vines with far subtler degrees of hairiness. We actually eat seeds of some Eastern Poison Ivy relatives: cashews , pistachios , and mangoes . They all have urushiol or a very similar skin-irritating chemical, though apparently not in the parts we eat. September 26, 2022 at Washington Valley Park Photo 248785401, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Most of us are familiar with the warning: Leaves of three, let it be . Some of us are also aware of the companion warning: Hairy rope, don't be a dope . But beyond these identifications for Poison Ivy , you should also be careful of their berries. I only IDed these berries because: I knew there was Poison Ivy in the area because I had been helping remove invasive plants around there in the summer. And when I followed the berry stem, I found the "hairy rope". Poison Ivy is in the cashew family aka sumac family , and the allergic reaction it causes in humans is from a substance called urushiol  (pronounced sort of like you-ROO-shee-awl). I'm told it only affects humans, though I've wondered whether other primates would be affected if there were any roaming the North American woods. [1] Here's a shot of its berries, though they look pretty old at this point. They are considered to be a nutritious food for birds in the winter, when food like insects is hard to com...