Poison sumac likes clay soil and wet spots and looks a little different than poison ivy or oak because its leaves don’t grow in threes. If it’s inhaled, it will cause a rash on the interior lining of the lungs, which can be very painful. Poison sumac has the same itch-inducing ingredient as poison ivy and poison oak – urushiol. In the southern United States, this shrub is also known colloquially as thunderwood. In Eastern Canada and the U.S., poison sumac haunts wetlands and swamps from north to south as a small woody shrub or tree. The rash-inducing oil is present on both the leaves and stems.
The leaves are bronzy-green when they first unfurl, stay green throughout the growing seasons and turn red and purple in autumn. The leaves grow as trios at each juncture on the plant and resemble a mature oak tree’s lobed leaves, but glossier. It loses its leaves in winter but sports black striations on its bark. You can find it as dense bushes, vines climbing up other plants, hedges or anything in-between. Poison oak grows in many varieties, which is unfortunate for the hiker trying to avoid it. This plant likes to grow in dappled sunshine or part shade and can also climb as a vine, sometimes killing off the support plant by smothering it. If you’re hiking on the West Coast, you need to be vigilant for the telltale oak-leaf-shaped lobes of poison oak. A woody vine or shrub in the sumac family, poison oak can cause a rash through skin-to-leaf contact or by inhaling the smoke produced from burning it, which can cause a much more severe condition. These plants like water, so look for them in creek beds or near waterfalls. If you live in the Pacific Northwest or have visited the grasslands and wetlands in that gorgeous part of the country, you may already be acquainted with poison oak. Poison oak is another nasty shrub that can cause welts and rashes if you brush up against it. Ranging from light green to dark evergreen to fiery reds and oranges in the autumn, poison ivy also sports a shiny gloss from the urushiol on each leaf.
Poison ivy grows in every state east of the Rocky Mountains and comes in a vast array of colors. The leaves have smooth edges and poison ivy does not have any thorns. Poison ivy is a vine, so it will cling and climb up the trunks of trees. The rash-inducing plant grows with three distinctive leaflets shaped like almonds sprouting from each node. The seeds are eaten by birds and some parts of the plant are consumed by animals, but humans mainly consider this allergenic plant a weed. Poison ivy, despite its name, is not a true ivy but a member of the pistachio or cashew family.
Much like knowing how to tell if a berry is poisonous, understanding the telltale signs of poison ivy and its cousins can save you a lot of discomfort down the line. Remember that poison ivy is often low-growing, so your animal companions can also transfer urushiol to your person if they brush up against the plant. If you encounter poison ivy on the trail, wash everything that came into contact with the plant or with your fingers after you touched the plant.
Anyone who touches it transfers the clear, oily sap onto their skin and will suffer from an itchy, often-painful rash. Poison ivy is a plant endemic to Asia and Eastern North America whose leaves contain the oily substance urushiol, which causes contact dermatitis or a rash. There are some simple details to help you recognize these allergenic plants before using them as impromptu toilet paper. To keep you and your hiking mates safe from poison oak, poison ivy or poison sumac, you need to learn how to identify them quickly and correctly. The briefest contact with any of these plants can result in painful outcomes, like itchy rashes and welts.
Whether it’s on a long, extended adventure or a short hike, the last thing you want is to come home with a bad case of poison oak, poison sumac or poison ivy.