Poison Oak, Ivy, Sumac Identification
#1
09-11-12, 12:44 PM
Poison Oak, Ivy, Sumac Identification
I have a horrible rash on my leg that has been present for two weeks now and believe I may have come in contact with poison ivy, oak, or sumac. Can someone please take a look at the following image and let me know if you see one of these urushiol-containing plants? FYI, none of the plants have berries and the leftmost image, middle image and rightmost image are shiny and the leftmost and rightmost are both shiny and fuzzy.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
#2
09-11-12, 12:54 PM
Super Moderator
I'm pretty sure the 3rd one is sumac and the 4th is oak. I don't see any ivy there and don't know what the others are.
#4
09-11-12, 01:53 PM
Group Moderator
2nd one is woodbine, which is harmless and gets grape-like berries. The 4th one is definitely poison ivy/oak and depending on its age, it doesn't always have berries. Can't really tell what 1 and 5 are. Not familiar with 3, looks like a tree leaf.
#5
09-11-12, 03:38 PM
#3 looks like a birch leaf, but not sure without seeing the bark of the tree. Poison oak and poison ivy will have three leaf clusters. Oak will have smooth edged leaves and ivy will have serrated leaves. I believe the old saying goes "leaves of three, leave it be".
#6
09-11-12, 04:56 PM
There are no trees and therefore no bark to look at. All of these are low-lying plants clustered together in my (very small) backyard amongst a lot of ivy (the non-poisonous kind). There are a couple other unknown/suspicious plants, some with odd looking clusters of small flowers but I don't see any berries.
#8
09-11-12, 05:35 PM
I understand it's the urushiol that causes the irritation--I was simply reiterating that none of these plants have berries, which I would expect to see. Apparently this isn't always the case.
#9
09-11-12, 05:45 PM
Super Moderator
Here's a pic of the 3 (from WebMD):
and I found this website that might be helpful:
Identifying Poison Ivy, Poison Oak and Poison Sumac through Pictures - (www.poisonivy.us)
and I found this website that might be helpful:
Identifying Poison Ivy, Poison Oak and Poison Sumac through Pictures - (www.poisonivy.us)
#11
09-12-12, 04:13 PM
Wifey decided this spring that she would rid our acreage of poison ivy. I just sit on the porch and look down the valley at her, sippin' on my sweet tea, knowing I will have to put Calamine lotion on her boo boo's the next day. I keep telling her it grows faster when you cut it down because you aren't getting the root system.
#14
09-14-12, 05:43 AM
How to clean urushiol from tools (lawnmower)?
It's been nearly three weeks since I was initially exposed to poison ivy (at least I'm pretty sure that is what happened), and I new rashes keep appearing on my body. Last week a few small red itchy bumps appeared on my stomach, then just the other day I have some on the backs of my knees and on my ankles. I just mowed the lawn again this past weekend so I'm thinking that I may have been exposed again. When I mow, I am pushing the mower a few inches into the area where the poison ivy is, just along the backside of my property line where the grass ends. Is it possible that the mower is spewing the oil back towards me? This seems unlikely to me because I am bagging the clippings and I am a few feet back, but figured I would ask. Also, what is the best product and method for cleaning urushiol off the lawn mower?
#15
09-14-12, 01:18 PM
Your bagger is porous so it is highly likely the force of the output from the mower is atomizing the stuff into the air. Wild guess, but not out of reality. Washing things with a good soapy water solution and rinsing will rid most of it off implements. If you are getting it on your stomach, think about where the lawn mower handle hits you 
#16
09-15-12, 04:56 PM
I'm pretty sure now that I didn't have a second incident, but rather that I am allergic to the antibiotics I've been taking for the past 7 days. I stopped taking them and hopefully I'll clear up after a few days. Rash on leg from actual poison ivy incident is looking much better due to the topical steroidal ointment (if anyone actually cares). Thanks for the help making the positive identification.
