# Survey on Poison Ivy, Oak, Etc.



## RedGinger (Jun 21, 2010)

A forum member mentioned in a post that he is part Cherokee and does not react to Poison Ivy.  I am wondering if you react and if you are part American Indian.  

 I have never had it in my life.  Maybe it was luck, or maybe I washed it off without knowing it.  I am a walking buffet for mosquitoes, though while others in the same spot are only bitten a few times, if at all.  I am not American Indian that I know of, but I find it fascinating and hope to someday do a DNA test and find out more about my family geneaology.  

 Thanks for your participation in this fun survey.


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## pyshodoodle (Jun 21, 2010)

Laur - don't touch it. I never used to get it either... and I am still mostly immune, but I do get a few little spots now from time to time. I tell you what - I NEVER want to get it bad! I'm miserable for a week with 5 or 6 little blisters.  I don't know how people function when they get a bad case of it.
 PS - I'm pale-skinned and freckled. My only known connection to any American Indian is a Great-Great Aunt that lived with Chief Oronhyatekha back in the 19th Century. (Who happened to be married to someone else - wish I could get more on that story!) No blood, though.


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## RedGinger (Jun 21, 2010)

I would never test my possible immunity by touching it.  People who get it can be so miserable, it's terrible.


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## cobaltbot (Jun 21, 2010)

I am 1/32 Native American and Polish, Scotch Irish, etc. etc. etc.  As a kid i could sit all day in poison ivy and dig bottles and it never bothered me.  Today I get a tiny bit on my wrists occasionally like Kate but only from the skinned roots when digging.


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## RED Matthews (Jun 21, 2010)

From my life's experience and both my Grandmothers - The thing to use is the juice from the Balsom Weed.  This weed can usually be found in little creek bottoms.  It has a light green stalk that always looks sort of wet because of all the liquid in it.  If you break off some pieces of the stalk and role the juice on your exposed or infected surface.  It will usually clear it up quite quickly,.  
 I am thinking I will have to get my camera out and take some pictures of the plant, to show on this FORUM.  I will in a few days.  RED Matthews


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## pyshodoodle (Jun 21, 2010)

We call that Jewel Weed. I always heard that, but never had to try it. Does it clear it up after it starts? I thought you just wiped where you were exposed and hoped for the best. Otherwise you just have to try to dry it out as fast as possible so it goes away.


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## GuntherHess (Jun 22, 2010)

I live on the east coast, I have never seen poison oak.
 I am a small part Indian (either Bombay or Calcutta cant remember which)


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## JOETHECROW (Jun 22, 2010)

I went and looked in some of my herb books to see if there was an illustration of that weed,...I even looked in Culpeppers. It may be there under a different name. Medicinal herbs and plants always have interested me, maybe thats why I like antique meds the best....[] I remember as a boy, we (Me and three friends) rowed out to a small island near our cottage on the lake....It was vr. small with lots of underbrush, and overgrowth. We all "tunneled" in through the poison ivy and whatever else was growing there to make a 'fort'....I never got it but they were all in a BAD way. I'm not sure if I'm immune or not,...never had it as an adult, and we've been in a lot of brushy places where I never paid enough attention. I've never been aware of any Native blood, but you never know...                                                                                             Joe


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## Staunton Dan (Jun 22, 2010)

> ORIGINAL:  RED Matthews
> 
> From my life's experience and both my Grandmothers - The thing to use is the juice from the Balsom Weed.Â  This weed can usually be found in little creek bottoms.Â  It has a light green stalk that always looks sort of wet because of all the liquid in it.Â  If you break off some pieces of the stalk and role the juice on your exposed or infected surface.Â  It will usually clear it up quite quickly,.Â
> I am thinking I will have to get my camera out and take some pictures of the plant, to show on this FORUM.Â  I will in a few days.Â  RED Matthews


 
 Sounds like caution needs to be heeded when using Balsam Weed. Don't know for sure. Never used any. All I know is that poison oak or poison ivy can be quite a nuisance and needs to be avoided whenever possible.

 http://www.oshims.com/herb-directory/c/celandine

 Here is some more information:

 http://poisonivy.aesir.com/view


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## pyshodoodle (Jun 22, 2010)

Here's wiki
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impatiens

 Here's more info on jewelweed - they make soap - had no idea.
 http://www.altnature.com/jewelweed.htm

 Here's poison ivy skin rash hall of fame. I always look at this at least once a year. (Mother of All Rashes is the worst!) 
 http://www.poison-ivy.org/rash/index2.htm


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## RedGinger (Jun 22, 2010)

OMG, that looks like third degree burns.  I had cousins that would get it as kids and how absolutely miserable they were.


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## JOETHECROW (Jun 22, 2010)

Thanks for the link Kate,...we used to call those "snap dragons"..... good info to know.
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





 It's cool that they make a soap from it. I've read too, that if you know you walked through or were exsposed to the poison ivy, that a shower right away helps because it's the oils of the plant that cause the reaction.   Joe


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## RedGinger (Jun 22, 2010)

Some of the commentary is kind of funny, though.  I feel bad for those people!  It reminds me how much Chicken Pox sucked.  At least there's a vaccine for that now.


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## JOETHECROW (Jun 22, 2010)

> ORIGINAL: JOETHECROW
> 
> Thanks for the link Kate,...we used to call those "snap dragons"..... good info to know.
> 
> ...


 

 What the he!! did I just do?...LoL I'm losin' it.[] I must have hit quote instead of edit, to fix my hasty spelling....


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## pyshodoodle (Jun 22, 2010)

I use Tecnu when I get home if I dig in the dump that has poison ivy. Period.


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## Wangan (Jun 22, 2010)

Dont forget that the oils can become airborne if you burn brush with Poison Ivy in it.[X(]


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## Wangan (Jun 22, 2010)

My wife had it when she was a kid and had to be literally wrapped up like a mummy.She is fair skinned with a few freckles.It doesnt bother me more than an itch because there aint any more room in here for poison.


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## Poison_Us (Jun 22, 2010)

I grew up around poison oak in CA. so I have (had) a good tolerance to it.  I could trudge right through the stuff and be fine. But sense I have been away so long, I'm sure that I may get it as easy as anyone.

 The reason the Native Americans may have a natural immunity to poison oak is that in their day, if they lived in such an area where it grew, women would make scratches in the arms of their children and rub crushed poison oak leaves on them to inject the oils into their system so their immune system would build antibodies against the irritant.  Now, being the first exposure and in such a way, of course they broke out extremely bad.  But in this way, it worked...never got a rash from being in contact again.  Do that for generations and you will build a natural immunity to it.  

 Actually, the irritant comes from the berries as an oil that coats the rest of the plant.  Because of this you can still get a rash in the winter when there are no leaves on the plant.  It's just a leafless stick in the ground.  So you  may not recognize it and touch it thinking it's just a dead plant.  nope....  I have seen poison oak as small plants, large bush and even vines in it's most mature forms.

 Oh, and as for natural cures for it (in the area where I grew up), the crushed leave of the Manzanita bush works as well.
 Easy to ID with it's smooth red/brown bark, prone to pealing and thick, quarter sized leaves.






 Had a lot of these growing around the house as well.  Sometimes I miss parts of CA.  Lots of memories.


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## RedGinger (Jun 22, 2010)

Very interesting, Poison_Us.  Thanks for sharing your info.  It's like giving a vaccine to kids.  They sure were smart!  I'm sure they had natural remedies for the kids as well, to ease the pain.


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## RedGinger (Jun 22, 2010)

I hear ya, Poison.  I didn't see your pic before my last post.  I miss a lot of things about home too.   At least you are in a cool place now.


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## RedGinger (Jun 22, 2010)

This has me thinking of Sumac.  We see it growing everywhere here.  How do you know if it's poison or not?  I was unaware until this post, that Poison Oak was exclusive to the Western US.  I wonder if any poisons were made from Poison Ivy and the others??


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## towhead (Jun 22, 2010)

I'm blonde, fair skinned....  1/2 Finnish, then some Irish, French,  and  a very, very small amount of French Canadian (Blackfoot Indian)...I have never gotten the poison ivy rash.... -Julie


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## mr.fred (Jun 22, 2010)

I am of French Canadian-----Blackfoot Decent---------i look at either Poison Ivy---or Poison Oak   and i get it[8|]-------but the last time was at least 35 yrs. ago----and i am pretty sure i have crossed paths with it many times digging-------Lucky?????[sm=rolleyes.gif].     Fred.


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## woody (Jun 22, 2010)

I've gottten poison ivy so many times over the years that I think I have become somewhat immune to it.
 Poison ivy is NOT my idea of fun. :0(


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## Poison_Us (Jun 22, 2010)

Ya, the oak is a western plant mostly.  So I couldn't ID the ivy of sumac to save my life. []
 Im sure a quick google search for pix would come up with a few.


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## JOETHECROW (Jun 22, 2010)

Hmmm, here's a pic that came up on google, listed as _western_ poison ivy....[:'(]








*" Leaflets three,...Let it be!"[]*


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## JOETHECROW (Jun 22, 2010)

This is the poison ivy that grows in our back 40....






*" Leaflets three,....Let it be!" [:'(]*


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## woody (Jun 22, 2010)

Berries white.... poisonous site!!!


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## Plumbata (Jun 22, 2010)

I never used to get it even though I would trudge through the stuff regularly, and even now it is only an issue if I get a bug bite on a Urushiol covered area and then scratch it. It just seems to potentiate the bug bites and will go away after less than a day, as alone it will not cause any rash, discoloration, or blistering, just a faint skin tightness. I rip out the toxicodendron stalks and roots with bare hands and get my legs covered in the stuff but the only people who seem to get it are those I interact with afterward. My mom gets it horribly (lasts weeks) and my girlfriend gets it bad too, but I have been spared. Might be the small bit of Narragansett I supposedly inherited from my father's side, as he doesn't really get P.I. either, but it may also be years of contact with the stuff that has desensitized me to its effects.

 Wild Parsnip, on the other hand, will get me good. It grows all over around here and if the chemicals in the plant are brushed on the skin when both sunlight and moisture (sweat or water) are present, it will cause nasty blisters that last a long time, and when they go away the skin underneath is darkened and looks like a nasty burn for many weeks. At least it doesn't hurt or itch, and thankfully it won't have the photochemical reaction with the skin without all 3 factors, according to my experience anyway, so i have been able to avoid such reactions for almost a decade now. It would be great stuff to collect, mash, press, and spray on one's enemies, perhaps mixed with a tincture of Toxicodendron and pure atomized capsaicin...  Be afraid... []


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## JOETHECROW (Jun 22, 2010)

_          If it's growing in the ditch, you're really gonna itch!"_


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## RedGinger (Jun 22, 2010)

"Since it grows on trees, watch out where you pees."


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## JOETHECROW (Jun 22, 2010)

_    [:'(]"If the leaves look like wax,...well then never be lax!"[:'(]               [sm=lol.gif]_


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## JOETHECROW (Jun 22, 2010)

*POISON SUMAC!!* Description
 Poison sumac is a shrub or small tree, up to 20 feet in height, with 7-13 leaflets per leaf. These are oval to oblong; acuminate (tapering to a sharp point); cuneate (wedge-shaped) at the base; undulate (wavy-edged); underside is glabrous (hair-less) or slightly pubescent (down-like hair) beneath, and are usually 2-4 inch long. Its flowers are greenish, in loose axillary panicles (clusters) 3-8 inches long. The fruits are subglobose (not quite spherical), gray, flattened and about 0.2 inches across.
 [edit] Distribution



 



[/align]Poison sumac[/align][/align][/align]Poison sumac grows exclusively in very wet or flooded soils, usually in swamps and peat bogs, in the eastern United States and Canada.[2]
 [edit] Toxicity
 In terms of its potential to cause urushiol-induced contact dermatitis, poison sumac is far more virulent than its relatives poison ivy and poison oak. According to some botanists, poison sumac is the most toxic plant species in the United States (Frankel, 1991).
 The poison shows itself in painful and long continued swellings and eruptions.[1] Specific information on prevention and treatment of _Toxicodendron_ rashes is provided in *Urushiol-induced contact dermatitis*.
 [edit] Notes


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## Poison_Us (Jun 22, 2010)

And if you ever clear a field of the stuff, don't put it in the burn pile.  Or everyone downwind of you will kill you (after the get out of the hospital)  Imagine the rash on the _INSIDE!_  Bad ju-ju.


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## pyshodoodle (Jun 22, 2010)

My ex-boyfriend was a firefighter and his eyes swelled shut one time from a brush fire that had poison ivy in it.


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## pyshodoodle (Jun 22, 2010)

I've been reading others posts and, while Laur's theory has to do with Indian blood, what others have said leads me to mention this. 

 My father's side of the family has lived in poison ivy territory in PA since 1756... most of the family being PA Dutch on all his sides. 

 My mother grew up in Scotland and her father was English, her mother American, but they were more well-to-do and lived in towns & cities more than in the country. 

 My father doesn't get poison ivy. My mother gets it horribly. I have skin like my father, and, as mentioned previously, I only recently started getting it, and if I do, only small (extremely itchy, annoying[]) spots of it. 

 Maybe genetics does have something to do with it.


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## RedGinger (Jun 22, 2010)

Yikes!  Sounds like a fun camping trip besides that glitch[][&o].  

 You know, I was thinking about Plumbata saying how he has a mild reaction, if at all to Poison Ivy.  He is a little bit American Indian.  I also recall him saying he was part Japanese.  If you look at the DNA charts or have watched Dr. Gates PBS shows on geneaology, you would see that Asian includes American Indian.  The Indians came from Asia long ago.  So, this is an interesting twist.  

 Do we have any other Asian members, and if so, are you allergic to Poison Ivy??


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## JOETHECROW (Jun 22, 2010)

> ORIGINAL: Plumbata
> 
> It would be great stuff to collect, mash, press, and spray on one's enemies, perhaps mixed with a tincture of Toxicodendron and pure atomized capsaicin...  Be afraid... []


 

*"It puts the lotion in the basket!"*


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## JOETHECROW (Jun 22, 2010)

Sorry about that,......I was going to show this stuff anyhow,...we keep it along for the dreaded ivy, plus bug bites and what not,...(One of it's ingredients, curiously, is oil of nettles....maybe it's homeopathic?....works good for fighting the itch. The art work on the bottle cracks me up......


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## JOETHECROW (Jun 22, 2010)

> ORIGINAL: lobeycat
> 
> i can roll in the shyte and not get an itch.
> I was a guest at this week long  mountain man rendezvous thing about ten years ago. The site of the camp was cleared of brush, most of which was poison ivy. Some bright boy thought it a good idea to burn the pile so no one would get into it and get the "rash". They got it going with the help of a little kerosene and a bunch of the dearskin clad simpletons stood around tending it. As it died down it got smokey. Huge drifts of thick smoke went right through the middle of the camp site. By lunch time you'd of thought Moses brought a plague down on the place. People's heads where turning into pumpkins right before my eyes. Everthing was contaminated. Cloths, tents, bed rolls. The place looked like a leper colony [] I won the knife throw event and came in second place at one of the shoots using a borrowed Hawken. A good day for the Itals who as far as I know are not effected by the dreaded rash


 

 That's OMG funny too Lobey! Geez,...how do you do it? One second I'm catching up on comments, the next, I'm wiping coffee off my moniter....[sm=lol.gif]   I'm half Italian (Son's of Italy!) and on my mothers side, a little scotch, Irish, and German (Pa Dutch) My mom and Grandma used to refer to it as "High" german and "Low" german... (I'm not sure which is which...) and I've never got the dread ivy .                                 Joe


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## pyshodoodle (Jun 22, 2010)

Plumbata - did you used to start fires as a child?


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## cobaltbot (Jun 23, 2010)

I've mentioned this before but as mentioned by some true poison oak is only a west coast thing almost California exclusively.  Now your uncle Clem,  grandfather or farmer friend that say that the oak leaf like varieties of eastern poison ivy are poison oak are not totally wrong for passing on this myth as that's what they've been taught all their lives.  Many a farmer also think Virginia Creeper is poison ivy but five does not equal three.  The most telling thing about poison sumac are the wet locations and the smooth margined leaves, if the margins of the leaves are serated as in staghorn sumac, that grows everywhere, it's not poison sumac.  Stay clear of this one though cuz as they say its nastier than the other two.  Burning is really stupid but done all the time, especially cut logs with the vines still clinging on the bark.  The dead vines can give off poison oils for 5 years after being killed.  As previously mentioned you can walk in the winter through leaveless upright woody stems and never realize it. Jewelweed as mentioned is really a good neutralizer but getting to a stream and washing off as soon as possible is important.  People swear by some of the commercial remedies and preventatives.


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## towhead (Jun 23, 2010)

Here's a pretty good article with a couple pix...

http://counties.cce.cornell.edu/oneida/home%20garden/WEEDS/Poison%20Ivy.pdf

 -Julie


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