My mom came over to my apt today and thinks this is poison Ivy, is she right?
Identified ✔Not at all. Looks like Virginia creeper. Not even leaves of 3
Leaves of 5 get unalived?
Leaves of 5, you better stay inside.
Leaves of 5, lt it thrive.
Man, imagine if poison ivy creeped 🤮
Edit: turns out it does - 🤮
Buddy sit down I have some bad news
And if you're in Virginia? Bruh, it was nice knowing you...
Well I’ll be damned
No, don't sit on it!
They even wrote a song about it
🤣🤣🤣
Ever seen poison ivy take over a tree? It sure does happen, and then in the winter, the vine they grow on stays on the tree with no leaves, but it will still give you a rash if you touch it.
It’s even in the name. Ivies are climbing plants, which is how it got its name even though it’s not related to true ivies.
They're climbing our pants now too? 😩
Hahaha. Edited
You gotta walk FAST!
English ivy and canary island ivy can still produce a rash. Got my first English ivy rash last year and i think it was worse than poison ivy.
And really f you up if you burn it and get into the smoke. Ask me how I know...
My dad did that as a kid. You are right.
Our rental house had poison ivy climbing 20-30 feet up this huge old maple tree.
It totally took over a dogwood we used to have. Parts of it as thick as my forearm. There was another climbing plant it was sneaking up under so we didn't realize how bad it was til too late. Had to remove the tree and everything around it to get the poison ivy out. The whole neighborhood got poison ivy that day as thanks for helping.
Death from above ⬆️
DIE DIE
At the camp I use to be a counselor at this tree by the cabin one had poison ivy just sprout up it one years. Crazily enough it was one of the younger kids who noticed it and said it looked like poison ivy. Adults confirmed it.
I haven’t, hence my comment. I grew up in an arid environment and where I live now, it’s mostly found in coastal sand dunes.
My parents swear the orchard we used to go to would plant poison ivy by the apple trees to keep kids from climbing them, but I literally can't imagine being that evil.
Found this out the hard way from moving in the winter.
“Oh fuck, did you grab the poison ivy off the tree? Don’t want to grow a whole new vine for the new place!”
“No, but won’t that give me a rash??”
“Nah it’s winter!! There are no leaves”
Also, never kill it with fire. When I was a kid some asshole was burning brush next door, including poison ivy. I have severe reactions to poison ivy. The smoke deposited the allergen on all of my exposed skin, including my face.
I began having trouble breathing and my eyes swelled closed. Ended up in the hospital.
Dudes I was working in a forest on my property early spring in an area where I had killed a bunch of poison ivy last year with 2,4d , there was no trace of the vine or leaves, but at one stage I had my forearms touching the soil. I got hit so bad I may have permanent scarring. I believe the urushiol can persist in the soil for up to 5 years. This stuff is no joke.
That is super disturbing! Ouch! 😦What if that happened to someone who did not know poison ivy used to grow there? They would have a tough time figuring out where the rash came from! Thanks for the heads up.
Yup at my old place a different tree was taken over and killed by a vine (English ivy?) I didnt see the leaves and didn't even think of poison ivy until the next day.
Poison ivy creeps its nasty ass way into your nervous system and there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it.
The allergic reaction is only in the epidermis.
Imagine if Virginia creeper was poisonous.
Some people do react to it. I think it's lovely, especially in the fall.
I would be one of those unfortunate people. The stuff is invasive here in the Western side of the US and if I didn't live in a rental I'd be pestering my neighbors a heck of a lot more for letting it take over the fences and the flowering shrubs. I clear out our side of the fence but it's obviously a losing battle in the long run if they won't remove the base...
I is pretty! It just spreads so darn fast.
I like poison ivy :>
Leaves of 5 you get the hives. Thats how it goes right?
If you grow Virginia ivy in Virginia, would you still call it Virginia Ivy?
We all know the rhyme....leaves of 5...let it be...
Correct. Poison oak and poison ivy have 3 leaves
Leaves of five, you'll survive.
I learned it as 3 let it be, 5 let it thrive. 5 leaves can be poison sumac, iirc
Virginia Creeper. It will be beautiful in the fall
This is true. It will also strangle the f*** outta that tree its growing in, and anything else it grows on. Watch out for the siding of your house too
It’s not great for siding, but trees handle it pretty well
100%. I've never seen Virginia creeper get even close to strangling a tree. It's not like Japanese honeysuckle or Oriental bittersweet.
Please don’t mention Japanese honeysuckle. It triggers me to think of my brick half-wall and I start yanking anything that looks like a vine out of the ground in a blind rage…
Someone shares my pain! I've been killing the stuff for like five years lol.
Not really. I have plenty of standing and fallen dead trees in the previously neglected woods behind my house from this plant taking them over. These will particularly go for trees that get a lot of sunlight, especially those along the edges of the woods. One of my favorite things to do is pull these off and burn them.
I was just watching this series by Tom Wessels that talked about how Virginia creeper usually only grows on the trunk and doesn’t inhibit the leaves. But this was also specifically for its native forest
I have literally seen this stuff take over an old overgrown patch of English Ivy and smother it. This stuff grew the leaves just like half an inch above the ivy leaves so it couldn't get enough light and started dying back.
Poison Ivy as the old saying goes has leaves in clusters of three. That clearly shows five leaves. Five serrated leaves usually indicates Virginia Creeper or the similar looking and growing Woodbine.
Some people react similarly to VC as PI, but it is a lot more rare. My grand pap was one of the unlucky, and he was just trying to save the paint job on the shed.
Leaves of five, let it be alive
Leaves of three, let it be, leaves of five, let it thrive.
5 leaves stand for I. Will. Not. Harm. You.
Leaves of three, safe to eat
Leaves of four, eat some more
Leaves of five, sauté with chive
Leaves of six, add to your cake mix
Leaves of seven, take you to heaven
Leaves of eight, seal your fate. Leaves of nine, eh... you're fine. Leaves of ten, call uncle Ben.
Leaves of five, it will strangle your tree til it dies.
Pull it off if you want that tree to remain healthy for years to come.
Virginia creeper. Im allergic to it same as poison ivy
Wow you won the genetic lottery
Fun fact: they have two very different methods of irriatation!
Poison ivy has urushiol oils that humans, by a quirk of genetics, are almost all allergic to.
Virginia creeper has oxalate crystals that can cause contact dermatitis in susceptible individuals.
I am too, worse than poison ivy for me, the blisters take a bit longer to heal and they leave a scar behind
Looks like Virginia Creeper.
No. For poison ivy remember this saying… leaves of three let them be
Came here to say this! Leaves of 3? Leave it be.
While it’s readily distinguished from poison ivy, Virginia creeper does share similar growing conditions and is often found next to poison ivy. When I see Virginia creeper I immediately look out for poison ivy as well. So while your mom is wrong, she may be passing along semi-helpful, albeit confused, information.
It’s too bad that 50+ commenters took this opportunity to redundantly convey their superior ID skills, rather than add anything helpful.
VC is the biggest competitor to poison ivy, so while they are found in the same types of places, protect the creeper because it is holding the line against poison ivy.
Agreed. Additionally, Virginia creeper can cause rashes very similar to poison ivy. My husband reacts to both similarly and will break out into a rash if his skin has any direct contact with either plant. When we purchased our house in Virginia, our property was taken over with bamboo. Now that we cleared that, we are trying to remove the poison plants 🙃So folks should use caution before ripping out Virginia creeper.
Poison Ivy Has Three Leaves 🍃 ❗️NO‼️
Be careful if you do go out there and try to handle or pull it up, as lots of people have bad skin reactions to it and get rashes from touching it.
Really? Man I am glad I have no reaction to it! I've been pulling with no gloves for 7 years. However I do have a reaction to mango skin. It acts just like poison ivy to me.
Mangoes, cashews, and the Toxicodendron genus (poison ivy, oak, sumac) are all in the same family, Anacardiaceae. Mangoes and cashews produce urushiol, the same allergen in Toxicodendron. Workers processing cashews for human consumption often have what effectively is poison ivy.
My mom can look at a poison ivy plant and break out. She is also very allergic in much the same way to mango trees/leaves (but she can eat the fruit). Luckily the Midwest isn’t chock full of mango trees…
I wonder if one can slowly build a tolerance to poison ivy if they eat a lot of mangoes and cashews.
Not likely. Uroshiol dermatitis gets worse with repeated exposure because it's T cell mediated.
In mangoes, the urushiol is in the skin, not the flesh of the fruit.
In cashews, the urushiol is in the shell, not the nut (which is what we eat).
Oh yah. My dad and I both had a reaction when we were pulling it out of an embankment. I had a rash for 3 weeks, his lasted about 3 months. Nothing helped get rid of the itchy and we both had them bloody and raw.
Oh god. I feel blessed. Hahha.
It produces berries for the birds in the fall, and the leaves turn a stunning shade of red.
Leaves of three, let it be.
Poison ivy & poison oak have three leaflets. Poison sumac has rows of leaves.
Just remember the rhyme, Leaves of five, let it live.
Leaves of three let it be leaves of five let it thrive
It's highly invasive, pls don't let it thrive!
Another great rhyme!
Leaves of five… give it a high five?
Leaves of five, I want it to be unalive.
I hate this stuff. It's all over my property and has roots everywhere so you can't just rip it out in one place.
…you’ll survive?
Every day I am amazed at how bad people are at identifying poison ivy. No offense to your mom
Even though it's not applicable in this situation, I hate the "leaves of three" saying. I've witnessed it cause a lot of cases of mistaken identity. There are tons of plants with three leaflets.
I dislike catchy sayings like that for identification in general because every one I’ve ever heard is flawed lol
Not poison ivy.
Nope
No
No it's not.
Poison Ivy: 3 Leaves and Shiny
I still remember this from Boy Scouts
No
Virginia Creeper - get rid of it. Everyone saying it’s beautiful is neglecting to mention it will climb and choke out whatever tree it covers. People do use it aesthetically but generally on a fence or wall specifically designed for it. Do not let it climb to the trees tops or it will be very hard to get down and will blanket everything, killing it.
I agree to be careful with it as it can climb and choke out other plants. But it’s also native and important to many native species. So I would leave it be if it’s not actively harming a tree or a wall
Virginia creeper. 🪴😎🔥
Virginia Creeper. Great for birds. Not so much for your siding. 😬
Poison ivy has 3 leaves (does have similar serration). This is Virginia creeper, very hard to remove but makes great wreaths/baskets. Native to N.A. but can overtake the surrounding trees, even choking out their ability to photosynthesize, which is why I'd remove it in that specific location. Beautiful fall foliage.
Thank you! I don’t recall seeing them be beautiful during the fall, I’ve been here 3 years but I’ll make sure to pay attention this year lol
Three leaves bud!
Definitely looks like Virginia Creeper
No.
It’s not. Coming from someone covered in a poison ivy rash at the moment.
She is not right. This is Virginia creeper.
But be careful because they grow in very similar conditions so if you see Virginia creeper it wouldn’t be surprising to also have poison ivy
Definitely Virginia creeper
Looks like Virginia creeper
Creeper
Clearly Virginia Creeper, highly invasive in a Kudzu sort of way, but def NOT Poison Ivy!
Virginia creeper is invasive in China and aggressive in the US because it’s native to the US. For the sake of clarity invasive refers to non-native plants that grow aggressively. Native plants cannot be invasive, but they can be, like poison ivy, aggressive
That's Virginia creeper. I will say, poison ivy likes to hide in it. If you see Virginia creeper, you should definitely be careful.
Virginia Creeper
I always learned that poison ivy has 3 leaves---" if it has 3, leave it be"
Leaves of 3, let them be. I think you are good (growing in groups of multiples of 3s)
Nope. Virginia creeper
Virginia creeper
Just keep it away from the siding of your home!
Is my Virginia creeper poison ivy post 13,423.
Nope. I’m deathly allergic and I live where it lives. That ain’t it
Creeping Virginia. Not poison Ivy. Native to U.S. but a weed. It can cause a skin reaction for some but much less likely than poison ivy would.
Causes irritation mechanically and not chemically, like urushiol. Microscopic oxalic acid crystals make a billion slices into your epidermis. Virginia Creeper(not Gary Condit)
Virginia creeper.
NO
Virginia Creeper is worse than poison ivy for me 🫣🤣
No
Leaves of 3, leaves them be… leaves of more pick some more I was always told.
Nope, 5 leaves instead of 3. It’s Virginia creeper, which is a native nuisance. It can irritate skin.
Mommy has no idea what poison ivy looks like.
Mom needs to stay in her lane.
Virginia creepee
Creeper
That's Virginia creeper or false Virginia creeper. Both can cause a rash like poison ivy. I, unfortunately, have both Virginia creeper and poison ivy in my yard. 🤬🤬🤬
Hahaha botanist she ain’t.
Leafs of 3 leave it be
Leaves of five, let it live?
Does it have 3 leaves? I thought not
Nope
It’s a great plant but invasive. This reminded me that I need to trim mine back
I see a lot of people saying five leaves are fine but I thought that could be poison oak??
Poison oak also has leaves of 3
No.
No? I'm putting a question mark because that's definitely not poison ivy. Has your mother seen it before or is she paranoid like my SIL?
Five is Fine. Three is itchy.
She is not
I live in northern California, and we just deal with poison oak here, so this post taught me a lot about poison ivy and Virginia ivy. I didn't even know the "leaves of three" rhyme was also used for poison ivy!
Leaves of five, that ain’t no jive.
It’s Virginia creeper but its sap can cause rashes so be careful
Tear it out. It'll choke out any other living thing you have there. Ask me how I know .
Its another poison plant shoemecek
Got poison ivy in my stomach of all places. couldn’t keep food down. dr prescribed synthetic thc could have just went home and smoked a fat one
Nope
Nope it’s Virginia Crawler a dang weed/vine. I can touch it and poison ivy kills me.
Virginia Creeper messes me up more than poison ivy. Luckily my neighbor can grab it bare handed, rub it on his face, probably even make a blanket out of it without any issues.
No, worries here, poison ivy has three leaves, is shiny and red/green in color. It grows on a vine with tentacle like hairs to help it climb. Poison ivy and poison oak, have three leaves.
Nope
That’s Virginia creeper but be wary poison ivy grow close to it closer to the ground
Cause you're a (Virginia) CREEP(ER), you're (not) a weirdo...
Yeah, when these shoots are young, they can actually have three leaves instead of 5, so to double check, follow the vine, and you can easily see the 5 leaves. There is also a color and sheen difference, but that can be nuanced, except to people who are as obsessive about avoiding.
No, it's Virginia Creeper. It's harmless, but poison ivy often grows near it so be on the lookout.
A pretty plant native to the eastern US
Creeper
LEAVES OF 3, LET IT BE!
I don't know where you live, but Virginia Creeper (this plant) is a pita weed here. Strangles everything.
As a home owner.... It's worse. This stuff destroys fences and shit. It's so hard to get rid of
What is this?
Not poison Ivey! I have been all in that stuff. Not a problem. It is quite invasive, and will climb way up your teees
Rub it on your genitals. You should know within a day.
Poison ivy has 3 distinct leaves
Virginia Ivy. I still pull it up as it will overtake a shrub or flower bed quickly if it isn't held at bay. I do keep an eye out for poison ivy since it can hide in it and I'm highly allergic to it. I always use gloves that have a rubber or plastic covering and I wash them in COLD water and Dawn before taking them off. I then do the same with my bare hands.
Virginia creeper. Its so unruly. Its all over my yard 😩
Leaves of 3 let it be - you're safe!
Leaves of 5 let it thrive!
Woodbine?
Time to start scratching like a dog has fleece
Virginia creeper
Leaves of 3, leave it be… leaves of 5, let it thrive… leaves of seven, going to heaven…
No. Poison ivy has 3 leaves. Always. 🤦🏻♀️
No
No, it's Virginia creeper. kill it anyway
Not sure why you're getting down votes. Similar to ivy this can climb up into trees or shrubs blocking the light from them. It also can do some damage to your house etc. Kill it. It killed one of my neglected azaleas.
It will smother the tree. But it's not as bad as the wild grape vine. Some people like Virginia creeper because it's a hardy cover that gives a clean red in the fall, but in my opinion there are environmentally better options that offer more points of appeal on shite spaces, that better feed pollinators, that can be managed easier. Virginia creeper should be used like goutweed : nothing grows, its contained, it's green. I used to do a lot of volunteer forest cleanup for invasive species, so I could be biased.
Yo mom is so dumb!
Ah come on, let's be a bit more creative than that
Your poison ivy is so fat it has 5 leaves and looks like Virginia Creeper
That’s the gif I was actually looking for but couldn’t find it!!! Andy’s second best
Norther Lights - Indica
My God I swear nobody goes out anymore. It says a lot about our society I guess and how much time we spend online, on our phone, looking at our monitors, watching TV and not looking at the basic stuff around us. How you could get through life without knowing the most basic of basic stuff..This has to be the two most common questions on Grindr these days, I wonder how many times I've seen it what is Virginia creeper and what is poison ivy. And in the case of poison ivy, I would think it would be public interest from early childhood to be able to identify and know it since it can wreak such havoc And it is ubiquitous.. Our insulated world. Two of the most common frequently appearing plants on the east coast, everywhere.. maybe next someone will wonder what is a maple
User deleted comment
15d
And it's a nasty material ..urushiol, the irritin oil of poison ivy. You may not be allergic to it now but at some point in your life that may change. And once you're exposed it's cumulative. You don't build a tolerance to it it works the other way you become more sensitive to it.
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