Late summer is the time for enjoying panhandle Florida’s great outdoors. There is gardening, boating, cycling, hiking and numerous other leisure time activities which enhance the area’s pleasant natural environment.
It is easy to forget that not all nature has to offer is an enjoyable experience. One consideration before tromping off into unfamiliar forests, and other wild terrain, is to get familiar with some of the more common poisonous plants.
A little knowledge can save hours, or sometimes days, of the uncomfortable after-effects of coming in physical contact with the wrong plants. Avoiding this unpleasant experience will save money, too. Topical treatments and, in extreme cases, doctor’s visits will dent the household budget.
Poisonous plants can be divided into two groups. There are those which cause skin irritation (technically known as contact dermatitis), and those which cause internal distress, and in extremely rare cases, death.
Part of summer’s innocuous green background, poison ivy is often intermingled with Virginia creeper and other weeds. If carelessly contacted, the itching will soon start for the unlucky person who blundered into this source of potentially blistering pain.
Both of these plant categories are found not only in natural settings, they occur almost everywhere soil is exposed to the sun in north Florida.
Many factors influence the toxic nature of a particular plant. The problem substance can be dispersed throughout the plant, or localized in a particular plant part, such as in roots, berries, or seeds.
The amount of a potentially harmful chemical compound in a plant may vary, even among plants of the same species depending on the time of year, the weather conditions, and the soil.
Reactions vary among people coming in contact with a harmful plant. The health and age of the person, and the quantity of the substance contacted will influence the symptoms.
Poison ivy is likely the most commonly encountered vine which causes an itchy rash. It is often intermingled with Virginia Creeper, a vine with many look-alike features, but none of the negative side effects.
The one constant identifying feature of poison ivy is the leaves always come in threes, with two of them directly opposite each other.
Creeper has a cluster of five leaves. Neither vine has thorns, unlike blackberries or dewberries which have a three-leaf cluster on their canes.
Poison ivy will grow in full shade climbing into trees, over fences, and up the side of walls. In the full sun of open fields, it appears as a bushy shrub.
Like creeper, poison ivy has a variety of leaf shapes. Sometimes creeper will have a cluster of three leaves on a vine, but five-leaf clusters will be on the same vine.
“Leaves of three, leave it be” is the old children’s rhyme which generations of parents used to keep their kids away from this itchy plant. There are other plants with similar leaf clusters, but it is best to err on the side of caution.
In autumn both creeper and poison ivy turn cherry red, but there is a slight tint difference between the two. A trained eye can make the distinction between the two shades of color.
Poison oak usually appears as a low growing shrub. The slender, upright branches bear leaflets which resemble oak leaves. They also grow in threes, just like poison ivy. The undersides of the leaves commonly are lighter in color because they’re covered with fine, hair-like structures.
Poison sumac is a coarse woody shrub or small tree. It never grows in the vine-like fashion of poison ivy. It frequently grows near swamps and wetlands, and ranges in height from five feet to twenty-five feet.
Its leaves are divided into seven to thirteen leaflets which grow in pairs. At the end of each stem is a single leaflet.
In the spring, leaves are bright orange and velvety in texture. In the summer they become dark green and glossy, with lower leaves a pale green in color. In autumn the leaves take on a russet brown color.
So, when the itch to enjoy nature happens, just be sure it does not leave an unpleasant rash.
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