Poison ivy, the plant (zaibatsu), 05/21/2019
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I've successfully learned to identify poison ivy[1]. Growing
up running around in the forests of Oregon, I got very
familiar with poison oak, so I thought it'd be easy enough,
but I found that poison ivy is a little bit more of a
chameleon. Sites that help with identification readily admit
that it can come in many subtly different forms[2], and
while the old "leaves of three" adage is useful, I prefer a
more solid footing.
Of course, my surety comes at a cost[3]. I found a few
plants that I thought fit the description along the creek
behind my house, put on some disposable gloves, and removed
them in preparation for weed whacking. Unfortunately, I
missed one or two, and didn't see them until the string on
my trimmer turned them to pulp. My other mistake was not
wearing long sleeves; little tiny bits of the plants
spattered on my arms.
Thankfully, the rash isn't terrible, and I know for sure
that my identification was correct. Like the dangers of the
fire swamp[4], now that I can recognize the problem, I can
easily avoid it.
[1]
gopher://gopherpedia.com:70/0/Toxicodendron radicans
[2]
https://www.poison-ivy.org/identify-poison-ivy-poison-oak
[3]
gopher://gopherpedia.com:70/0/Urushiol-induced contact dermatitis
[4] c'mon, it's a Princess Bride reference, no citation needed!
