Really? I grew up in Southern Ohio and there was poison ivy everywhere. Spent 40 years in New Mexico, and never saw it - likewise friends and relatives in various parts of Texas and up the entire West Coast. So I always thought it was an Eastern plague, although I see other commenters has encountered it in the West). Now I've relocated to Tennessee and to our sorrow, have found that the woods on our property have healthy growths of it. Frankly, I'm not sure whether we have poison ivy or poison oak, or both, the descriptions and pictures cover many plants that are twining up our trees. Clearing out a couple of fallen trees made for a lasting adventure involving urgent care.
On the bright side, poison ivy is one of the earliest blooming plants, coming out in late January around here. I've never seen the blooms myself, but my honey bees find them, and bring back bright red pollen. They need early blooming plants for pollen to feed the young larvae (who knew?) and there's no urushiol in the nectar or pollen. Also note, LOTS of plants have 3 leaf growth patterns - wild blackberries, for instance, which we also have in abundance. Once the stray blackberry shoots are a couple feet tall you can definitely tell the difference though.
Really? I grew up in Southern Ohio and there was poison ivy everywhere. Spent 40 years in New Mexico, and never saw it - likewise friends and relatives in various parts of Texas and up the entire West Coast. So I always thought it was an Eastern plague, although I see other commenters has encountered it in the West). Now I've relocated to Tennessee and to our sorrow, have found that the woods on our property have healthy growths of it. Frankly, I'm not sure whether we have poison ivy or poison oak, or both, the descriptions and pictures cover many plants that are twining up our trees. Clearing out a couple of fallen trees made for a lasting adventure involving urgent care.
On the bright side, poison ivy is one of the earliest blooming plants, coming out in late January around here. I've never seen the blooms myself, but my honey bees find them, and bring back bright red pollen. They need early blooming plants for pollen to feed the young larvae (who knew?) and there's no urushiol in the nectar or pollen. Also note, LOTS of plants have 3 leaf growth patterns - wild blackberries, for instance, which we also have in abundance. Once the stray blackberry shoots are a couple feet tall you can definitely tell the difference though.