THE POISON IVIES 



one comes upon a grove of trees sorely beset with this 

 poisonous pest. Sometimes Poison Ivy and Virginia 

 Creeper dimb adjoining trees. But the Creeper has 

 five leaflets and is benign, the Ivy has three and is 

 malignant. Shun the vine with a hairy, woody stem 

 and leaves of three leaflets. 



These leaflets are ovate or rhombic, entire or coarsely 

 and sparingly serrate, acute or acuminate, sometimes 

 lobed. They are more or less variable, but the main 

 and central fact is that there are always three of them, 

 the lateral ones sessile, the terminal one on a short 

 petiole. 



The flowers of Poison Ivy are small, polygamous, 

 yellowish green, made on the plan of five. Five sepals, 

 five petals, five stamens, styles three. They are 

 borne in loose, axillary clusters. Fruit a dry drupe, 

 the size of a small pea, smooth, greenish, gray-white, 

 or pale brown. 



These plants should be exterminated root and 

 branch, but instead of that they are increasing. This 

 is largely due to the immunity they enjoy because 

 people are afraid to touch them, but in winter they 

 could be easily and more safely destroyed; destroyed 

 they certainly should be. The poison is an acrid 

 oil which is easily liberated from the leaf tissue, and 

 quickly permeates the skin of its victim, spreading its 

 irritation on the surface. Water will avail little in 

 removing it; alcohol is much better. Some persons 

 are immune to the poison, others are affected by near- 

 ness alone. 



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