GRAND RAPIDS, Mich — Spending time outside here in Michigan during the summer can’t be beat! The woods, the beaches, the trails, there are endless opportunities to spend quality time outside.
But have you ever finished a hike, come home, and had an itch you just couldn’t scratch? There could be a chance you encountered poison ivy.
- Very common in Michigan
- Three leaves
- Smooth edge leaves with some toothing
- The middle stalk is usually bigger/longer
- Vines have little 'hairs' to help cling to tree trunks
- No thorns or prickles
- Can grown on ground or on a vine
- Two side leaves look the the plam of your hand
"It's native so it actually does provide habitat and food for different wildlife," Blanford Nature Center Land Stewardship Technician Katie Goplerud-Smith told me. "Birds will eat the berries, their white berries, and deer and other mammals will nibble on it here and there. So it is a native plant. However, for us humans, we react badly to the oils on the leaves. Makes us itchy, red, terrible time.
There's never any prickles or thorns on it, so it's smooth, and it can grow as a vine. It can grow on the ground. There's a lot of variation, and there's a lot of variation in what the leaves look like too.
The itch-inducing three-leafed plant is very common here in Michigan and grows in more places than you think, which means it’s probably a good idea to know what it looks like.
“There's a lot of variation, and there's a lot of variation in what the leaves look like too."
The general rule of thumb when looking for poison ivy is the old rhyme, 'leaves of three, let it be,' but it is a little more complicated than that.
"There's a lot of plants that have three leaves. So one of the ways you can tell poison ivy by looking at it is you count those three leaflets, and then from there, you can look at some other distinguishing characteristics, like the leaf texture," said Katie. "It's a little more waxy and a little darker green occasionally than other plants with three leaves. There's never any prickles or thorns on it, so it's smooth, and it can grow as a vine. It can grow on the ground. There's a lot of variation, and there's a lot of variation in what the leaves look like too. They're usually smooth, edged with some toothing to it, like smooth toothing. So when you see it, sometimes it'll be shaped, kind of like when you show people where you are in Michigan, like your hand. It could have a larger tooth sticking out of it, like that. Sometimes it will be like a turtle, I like to say, so there's a couple tooths sticking out like that, or lobes. So that's one way you can tell them apart. Oftentimes, there will be a red, in the center of those three leaves. Not always. That's why it makes it tricky to identify, because it's so variable in what it looks like."
WATCH: OTHER POISONOUS PLANTS IN MICHIGAN
Another way to ID poison ivy is to remember the words of Blanford Nature Center’s founder Mary Jane Dockey, and look at the plant’s distinctive vine.
“Poison ivy vine can look hairy because of the roots trying to grab onto what it's growing on. So Mary Jane Dockery came up with, 'a hairy rope. Don't be a dope'.”
If you are a dope, or maybe just unlucky, and do brush up against some poison ivy this summer, Katie has a recommendation that’s worked for her.
“Dish soap will help take those oils off anywhere. Just bring the soap into the shower with you. Scrub it as much as you can, and usually that takes care of it.”
The American Academy of Dermatology Association also recommends washing your clothes and everything that could have oil from the plant on it.
Try a cold compress to the itchy areas and maybe some calamine lotion or hydrocortisone cream. And if you have any trouble breathing or get a fever, seek medical attention.
- Immediately wash the area with lukewarm water and soap
- Wash clothing
- Take short, lukewarm baths
- Use calamine lotion or hydrocortisone cream
- Apply a cool compress
- Consider taking an antihistamine
Like anytime you're out in nature, it pays to pay attention, especially with a plant that might be irritating to us, but serves a purpose.
“it's a great habitat and food plant for different wildlife in Michigan," Katie said. "So we don't want to eradicate it completely, but it is important to have good experiences in nature, especially if people are new to going outside. You don't want to have those itchy, terrible rashes. So if you're concerned about the poison ivy on your property, you can get rid of it in ways of spraying it, but I would recommend, if you really want to do that, you can just do it along the paths that you walk, or just be careful of where you're stepping. It's good to just know what it looks like.
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