resubmitted post Had to resubmit my post on identification of a vine in my area. aparently I neglected to place the images on my post the right way. If the images do not come with the post this time then I need help. embarassed curiousinmichigan
Looks like Rhus radicans. You'll be worse than embarrassed if you are susceptible to the effects of this plant and touch some of it.
Sumac? I thought that Rhus verniciflua (varnish tree) was the one that is really nasty to touch. I also didn't realise there was a vine in the sumac family. Well, if you don't like the vine, use gloves and long sleeves if your going to pull it out! Carol Ja
More poison ivy... Is this R. rydbergii? No aerial roots are visible. When is the best time to take cuttings and are they easy to root? Picture 1 Picture 2 This one came with the others, any ideas? Picture 3
Several Rhus spp. have toxins that cause skin rashes. Poison ivy is certainly one of the worst in N. America, but poison oak and poison sumac are bad too. Interesting that the genus Rhus is in the mango family, Anacardiaceae along with the cashew, which can also cause irritation for people. Here are some links: http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/r/rhurad/rhurad1.html http://mwrop.org/W_Needham/Poison_Ivy_050612.htm http://www.up.ac.za/academic/botany/garden/species/115.html If you get a rash from poison ivy look for jewelweed I grew up in Ohio and this vine was very common there. I am sure that this is the case in Michigan as well. Be very careful when you are dealing with it Curious. It does provide food for wildlife and is native, so I would just let is grow in a natural area, but be aware and avoid it. Personally I have come in contact with it many times in my youth and never experienced any reaction to it. Others in my family came close to needing hopitalization after contact with it. Do not burn it. You can get the rash from the smoke. You can inhale it and that is very bad.
I read about someone who had to spend 3 months in hospital after handling some Rhus radicans - that may be unusual, but I don't suppose it's unique
Thankyou for the Identification I had my doubt in its Identification at first because I've touched it with bare hands, in my investigation of the plant, and suffered no ill effects. The plant was interesting with a velvety soft feel to the leaf. I notices one other thing about the plant, that when I broke the the leaf stem from the vine the leaf stem oozed a milky white sap which turned black when it dried. I was told that jewelweed would help with poison ivys rash so looked up a picture of the plant and found a name for one of the plants I found in the wood that I didnt have a name for and it was the same plant you mentioned. (jewelweed) I wrote the forum to identify one plant and came away in identifying two. Thankyou all for your input on identification and how quick you did it. curious
Other plants can be confused with poison ivy and it is difficult to be sure from photos on the internet, but I think the ID is correct here looking at the fruit. I have heard of people, who like me have not to reacted to the stuff, getting the rash after years of contact without reaction; so don't assume you are imune. I remember hearing that people have died from inhaling the smoke, which is why I included the caution about burning.
You might also leave the oil(?) behind on something else that you touched later, that was touched in turn by someone who was sensitive to it.
Funny, I walked into poson ivy as a child once and didn't react, however mangos give me hives. Carol Ja
Can't remember the source of the reference, but read somewhere that sometimes where one was once insensitive to it, that a person could become sensitive in later years. The author put forth the thought that its effect might be cumulative over many years of exposure. In any case, avoidance whether senstive to poison ivy or not is probably a good thing. If for no other case than to protect the accidental spread to those who are sensitive. Harry
There are many natural and "man made" chemicals that will have this effect, that is you are OK for a time then suddenly and sometimes fatally not OK; it's called "sensitization" (or at least that's what we used to call it before the hair went grey). I have personally experienced it with a medication that was ironically in use to relieve pain, and had an employee become sensitized to something in urethane plastic who simply had to leave the industry. My understanding from those experiences is that once it is not OK, it will never again be OK, in other words, the change in body reactivity is permanent (and frequently catastrophic in nature). Ralph
paion Rhus rydbergii is most common form of poison ivy around here and although it's probably not impossible, I have never seen it with more than three leaflets in a compound leaf. The leaves shown with your first photos do resemble the poison ivy leaf in all other respects. But the fact that it has 5 leaflets makes me doubt that your plant is Rhus rydbergii. Rhus rydbergii usually resembles a ground cover as it rarely gets over 18" tall (sometimes taller when growing by a rock outcrop) and normally has a single, erect, woody stem with the flowers and berries(cream/white colored) at the top of the stem. The flowers and berries can be hidden by the leaves, but after the leaves fall all that is left is the single woody stem with the berries at the top. Hope this helps. Harry
Never got round to looking at Paion's pics till now - the first two are Manitoba Maple (Acer negundo), the third looks most like an ash (Fraxinus, not sure which species). Paion doesn't say where he is, so there's no location info to help.
Michael, I should have recognized the Acer negundo as it is common on one of my dog walks. South of the border we call it Boxelder. :) Harry
Not elderberry, boxelder. :) You got my curiosity going, so I went looking for the reason and found this reference on the web. Thats from the following page. http://www.wildflower2.org/NPIN/Plants/Detail.asp?Scientific_Name=Acer negundo In cases like this when two names mean essentially the same thing, I always think of the quote from "Romeo and Juliet", "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet..." Although it would be a stretch to even remotely infer a rose (or an elderberry) from a boxelder; or vice versa. :) Harry
