Poison Ivy 101

So, we get asked things all the time about the outdoors.  One thing we hear a lot is, "what does Poison Ivy look like?"

The general rule of thumb is, "leaves of three, let them be."  That is a pretty good rule to follow, but there are a lot of plants out there that have three leaves and are not Poison Ivy (PI).  If you try and go hiking and not touch any plants with three leaves, you may as well wear a Haz Mat suit.

All that being said, here is a picture of classic PI.

The leaves tend to be (but are not always) waxy looking.  The middle leaflet's two sides are symmetrical and the two leaflets opposite each other are mirror images of one another.  The plants can be small or up to 6 feet tall.  The other form that PI comes in is a vine that tends to cling tightly to other trees and plants.

I hope this helps.