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The leaves of poison ivy are three-foliate. The two lateral 
leaflets are eed sessile and somewhat egg-shaped. The ma 
of the leaf varies from entire to strongly notched on the a 
parallel to a stem. The terminal leaflet has a short stalk and 
prominently marked apex. All the leaflets are of a bright shining 
green color above, and slightly paler beneath. These leaves 
begin to change color in ee At first the green of the upper 
surface becomes marked between the green veins with copper- 
colored splashes. eoeare a color changes to dark crimson 
and spreads to the veins which now have become yellow, so that 
the leaf is marked at this period by broad bands of dark crimson 
and narrow bands of yellow. Finally the leaf becomes a uniform 
color, the color varying from pink to red and to brown. It is 
the brightly colored forms of poison ivy that are most prized 
for bouquets by those unfamiliar with its nature. Only last 
fall while crossing the Fort Lee Ferry, a man who sat beside me 
asked me if I could tell him the name of the bright red leaves 
surrounding a bouquet of asters. ‘‘My two little children are 
asking me to tell them the names of the plants that I take them 
WwW 
from my walks,” said he. hen I told him that they were 
poison ivy leaves, he seemed very grateful for the information. 
The flowers, which occur in panicles and which are green in 
color, are small and eee Ne us. The individual flowers have 
a four to six-parted calyx. The petals are greenish-white and 
spreading. The flowers have five stamens, a solitary pistil, 
one ovule, and a three-parted style. The fruit is small, rounded 
and greenish-white in color 
After the first frost the leaves begin to fall. In a short time 
D 
hold-fasts on the climbing form, which are now readily seen, 
appear like tufts of brownish black hairs. During the late fall, 
winter, and early spring many people are poisoned by coming in 
contact with the stem and berries. 
Poison ivy i en mistaken for Virginia creeper, Parthe- 
nocissus pens a plant which is frequently found growing 
with poison ivy. The leaves of the former (Plate C21) are five- 
