Uh Oh

Found these beauties while playing on the playground at my kids' school yesterday. These are Poison Ivy in vine form climbing up the side of a couple white birch trees.

Poison Ivy comes in three forms (plant, vine, and bush) and can most easily be identified by the three-leaf configuration with the longer stem on the center leaf. Leaf shape can vary widely but the configuration cannot.

Poison Ivy vine can be easily recognized by the hairy vine which is just starting to form in the pictures.

Some small percentage of people (I don't know the actual statistic) are not allergic to the oils in poison ivy, poison oak, and/or poison sumac. I just happen to be one of them. This "immunity" can fade however so it's best to avoid the plants in all forms if at all possible.

Be careful out there,

B