BROOKLYN BOTANIC GARDEN 
LEAFLETS 
THE BROOKLYN INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES 
Series IV Brooklyn, N. Y., May 17, 1916. No. 6. 
POISON IVY 
This plant, common in this region, and known scientifically 
as Rhus '/'oxicodendron, is the bane of a great many people who 
visit the country or the woods. There are few vacationists who, 
at one time or another, have not felt the effect of contact with 
poison ivy. But it is not even necessary to seek the country to 
find this plant; people in their walks about the city or even in 
the public parks may meet with poison ivy, for it is not an un- 
common sight to find it growing in some waste yard or fence 
corner right in the heart of Brooklyn. It is truly a “snake in the 
grass,” and anyone passing through an area of natural vegetation 
is liable, consciously or unconsciously, to touch the poison ivy. 
Besides poison ivy, we have another member of the family, 
common in swamps, the poison sumach or poison dogwood {Rhi/s 
Vernix), which is even more poisonous to the touch. 
Many people, especially Boy Scouts, with whom the knowledge 
is compulsory', and those who have experienced poisoning from 
it, have made themselves familiar with the appearance of poison 
ivy. There are, however, many people who are unfamiliar with 
this plant; it is not infrequently touched and otherwise handled 
in summer or autumn, for the plant possesses some beauty, espe- 
cially when it has assumed autumnal coloration. Needless to say, 
poisoning usually results from such a procedure. It is not 
amiss here to describe briefly the appearance of the poison ivy 
plant. 
The leaves are compound, composed of three ovate leaflets, 
thus being readily distinguished from the Virginia creeper, with 
five leaflets, with which poison ivy is often confused. Depending 
somewhat on the conditions, the plant grows as a trailing or 
climbing vine or else as a more or less erect shrub. The name 
