Poison Ivy: Keep Eyes Open for Summertime Menace
07-10-2009If mosquitoes and buffalo gnats aren’t enough to get you itchy this summer, there’s always poison ivy.
“Just the mere mentioning of this native plant usually gets people itching,” said Joshua Wright, Garland County extension agent for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture.
Wright also knows what happens when poison ivy meets skin. During a recent hike, his son saw a rock that seems to have been “strategically placed right in the middle of a healthy crop of poison ivy,” he said. “Any where you take your children outside, you are bound to find it.”
Poison ivy leaves contain urushiol, the oil that causes the rash that develops on the skin.
“The best thing to do for poison ivy is to clean the area with cold water and soap,” Wright said. “ It is important not to use hot water as hot water will open up the pores and allow the oil to get into the skin.”
The soap and water will break down the oil to keep it from causing a reaction.
Contrary to popular belief, the rash does not spread due to drainage, but from oil that has not been cleaned off the skin.
“When someone touches an infected area, that oil is then transferred to his or her hand and then to anybody or anything else that it touches,” Wright said.
Poison ivy, a relative of cashews and mangoes, isn’t hard to identify. Its leaves have three leaflet clusters, hence the adage “Leaves of three, let it be.” It can grow as a ground vine or climb trees. To see photos of poison ivy, visit http://www.aragriculture.org/forage_pasture/plant_id/woodyplants/pages/poison_ivy.htm and http://www.arhomeandgarden.org/plantoftheweek/articles/Poison_Ivy.htm.
Herbicides such as Roundup can be effective in ridding the garden of the pest. Homeowners who burn yard waste should be careful about burning poison ivy because it aerosolizes the rash-causing oil. Breathing the smoke from burning poison ivy can cause trouble.