Leaves of three, leave it be

SIKESTON -- It creeps. It climbs. It changes color, but most of all, poison ivy can drive a person crazy.

As Memorial Day kicks off the unofficial start of summer, many will be having picnics, taking nature walks, working in their yards -- and some will come into contact with the sneaky plant.

"There are a lot of people out there who don't know what poison ivy looks like. I'm allergic to it, and I know what it looks like -- and I still get it," said Dr. Lucinda Swaltzell, a biology professor at Southeast Missouri State University.

Weather and soil in Missouri and its overall conditions make some wonderful poison ivy, and this allows leaves to produce a large amount of the toxin, Swaltzell said.

One way to identify poison ivy is to look for three leaflets clustered together, Swaltzell said, adding the old adage, "Leaves of three, leave it be" is one to abide by.

"The trouble is we have some native plants in Missouri that also have three leaves," Swaltzell pointed out. "Box elders seedlings look like tiny little poison ivy seedlings, and if you look closely at the stem, poison ivy leaf emerges alternately; box elders' leaves are across from each other."

Poison ivy leaflets also have a jagged edge and are not entirely smooth, Swaltzell said.

"Poison flowers from May to June which is probably when we start to see it turn more green and that sort of thing. It's found, a lot of times, on fences, along trails and basically anywhere it can find a spot to grow," said Sara Scheper, education specialist at the Missouri Department of Conservation Campus Nature Center in Cape Girardeau.

Poison ivy can be contracted year-round. Grapelike clusters can be found on the poison ivy from August through November. Also in the fall, the leaves will turn red or orange. And in the winter, the plant is harder to notice because it is not as green and may look dead.

And although it's rare in the area, poison oak is another member of the poison family. It has three leaves also, but it occurs is most prevalent in the south central part of Missouri, Scheper said.

"People say they aren't allergic to poison ivy and then they come to Missouri and find out they are," Swaltzell said.

Scheper said that's exactly what happened to her.

"I grew up at Girl Scout camp and never got it. Then about 10 years ago, I got it for the first time ever at Girl Scout camp," Scheper said.

Scheper had a reaction so bad she had watery blisters between her fingers and her face was swollen. She ended up having to get a steroid shot and use steroid cream, she said.

"Ever since then, I've gotten it about every year, but not that bad," Scheper said.

What causes the itching and rash is the plant's protein called urushiol, which is an oil that is found in the leaves, vines and roots, Swaltzell explained.

"It sticks to us because it's oily and sticks to the oil on the skin," Swaltzell said.

Of course, the best way to keep from getting poison ivy is to avoid it all together, which isn't always possible, Scheper said.

Scheper said if she knows she's been in contact with poison ivy, she will turn her jeans inside out when taking them off to avoid touching the oil.

Both Scheper and Swaltzell agreed there are a lot of over-the-counter remedies for poison ivy.

"I think there's a lot of opinions on what works and what doesn't," Swaltzell noted. "The main thing to remember is to keep it clean and don't scratch and even if it hurts and itches like crazy."

Perhaps the best way to rid of the poison ivy plant is to spray with a herbicide, Scheper recommended. This way no physical contact with the plant has to be made, and the plants should never be burned because the oils travel in the smoke.

Despite its threat to humans, poison ivy does benefit some animals, Scheper noted. It does have a fruit cluster that birds like to eat, she said. Other animals eat the stem and leaves.

And although the plant typically causes discomfort to those who come into contact with it, the good thing is people are not spending their days in dreaded fear of poison ivy, Swaltzell pointed out.

"We're having picnics and taking walks," Swaltzell said. "We're still having a good time."

For more information, visit www.poison-ivy.org.