Poison Ivy

What it looks like

Each leaf has three leaflets, and the middle one sits on a longer stem than the two side ones. Edges can be smooth, toothed or lobed, and leaves can be shiny or dull, red in spring and fall. It grows along the ground, as a small shrub, or up trees on a hairy, rope-like vine, and it makes clusters of whitish berries.

Often mistaken for: Virginia creeper (five leaflets), boxelder seedlings, or young blackberry (thorny)

When it shows up in the Triangle

Leaves are out from spring through fall, but the rash-causing oil (urushiol) is in every part of the plant all year, including bare winter vines and roots.

Where you’ll see it

Woods edges, fence lines, beds, under trees, and anywhere a lawn meets a wooded area.

What you can do

• Never touch it bare-handed: wear gloves, long sleeves and long pants
• Never burn it, since the smoke carries the oil into your lungs
• Wash clothes, gloves and tools afterward; the oil stays active on them for a long time
• Bag and trash pulled plants instead of composting them
• Keep pets out of patches, since the oil rides on their fur onto you