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Making America's Best Idea Even Better
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation AreaPoison ivy (Rhus radicans) in the fall
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Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
Poison Ivy: Leaves of Three...
poison ivy in the fall

Leaves of three, let them be!
Poison ivy (Rhus radicans) grows plentifully along roadsides, trails and the edges of fields and parking lots, as a vine or a low shrub. The leaves are red in early spring (above), shiny green in summer, and an attractive red or orange in the fall. Each leaf consists of three leaflets.

Most people are sensitive in varying degrees to the sap of this plant, which makes skin itch, blister, and swell.

 
Prevention
• Avoid contact with all parts of the plant
• If exposed, wash the affected skin with soap and water as soon as possible. It takes several minutes for the sap to penetrate the skin.
• Remember: Leaves of three, let them be!

• Do not burn garden clippings or campfire "deadwood" that is entangled with poison ivy leaves or vines. Soot from the fire can carry the sap through the air, and cause serious distress in the eyes, nose, and throat.

 

Fact Sheet
Poison Ivy & Rhus Dermatitis (including sketches of poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac) from the National Park Service Public Health Program.
Architect's aerial view of an earthen dam stretching across a wide river  

Did You Know?
... that the reservoir of the proposed Tocks Island Dam would have inundated 30 miles of the Delaware River and 30,000 acres of its river valley (now part of Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.) The defeat of the dam was an early victory of the environmental movement in this country.
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Last Updated: June 04, 2009 at 13:12 EST