Learning to identify poison ivy is critical to avoid an allergic reaction to the plant's oil, urishol.
ith a wet spring earlier this year, weeds and vines have grown amuck, so clearing these areas is often a top priority. But keep in mind that there may be poison ivy, poison oak or sumac lurking with the more benign shrubs.
Poison ivy runs rampant in the eastern United States. Poison oak is most often found in the south as well as rural west. Poison sumac, fortunately, is rare, but it can be just as troublesome. Annually, these plants account for 50 million cases of rash in the U.S. alone.
The cause of the rashes associated with these plants is the oil on the plant itself, urishol. When this oil comes in ...