Beth Girdler

Her previous columns are archived HERE.

BETH GIRDLER

Watch your step in the ivy patch

Heads up folks! It is up and growing and believe me, you don't want to touch it!

I have a hate-hate relationship with this particular native species. I know what it looks like, I know where it grows and you'd think I'd be able to avoid it. Alas, no. Almost every year for the last 40, I've managed to connect with poison ivy.

Toxicodendron radicans is a member of the cashew family. It takes on many forms - growing on the ground, growing as a climbing vine, or as an upright shrub. Its compound leaves can be green or reddish, dull or shiny, but always have three leaflets. The plant bears clusters of tiny white flowers, which in turn produce small, hard white berries.

Every part of the plant - roots, stem, leaves and berries - contains an oil, urushiol that can cause an allergic reaction in 80 percent of people exposed to it. Severe itching followed by redness, inflammation, and an ugly blistering of the skin are typical manifestations. Sometimes these delightful symptoms are followed by weeping sores that can become infected. Repeated exposure to the plant can lead to increased sensitivity. Since the plant is fragile, the oil is easily released. This stuff is potent and long-lasting. Touching "oiled" shoes, clothing, or tools can do you in. Even dried specimens over 100 years old have been known to cause a reaction.

I like to think that I get a regular dose because I am constantly exploring, striking off into unknown territory with much curiosity and gusto. Be that as it may, some years the reaction is worse than others.

The first incident I remember occurred in 1963 when my parents rented a cottage on Manitoulin Island. My brothers and I decided to investigate the sandy lakeshore, searching for frogs and snakes. What we found instead was a huge healthy patch of poison ivy. The worst part of that case, aside from the intense itching and huge watery blisters, was that the doctor recommended we avoid water to keep the blisters dry. What torture! Here we were at a lake in the height of summer staring longingly at the water. Mercifully, my mother felt sorry for us and eventually allowed us to go swimming. It was the best thing she could have done. Our rashes dried up and disappeared within a few days. As it turns out, soaking in water is an excellent way to alleviate the symptoms.

By far my most memorable episode of poison ivy struck when I was 12. My cousin lived on a farm and we were horsing around in the back forty when she grabbed a handful of "grass" and rubbed it in my face. Well, you guessed it, what she grabbed was not grass. Now, poison ivy on the face is pretty awful but try combining the unbearably itchy rash that developed the next day with a surprise case of the mumps - both sides - and you have one mighty miserable little girl. I spent days walking around with a pillow held up to my swollen glands and pink calamine face.

Twelve years ago, I had an acute reaction after petting my dog. I had been very careful to avoid the ivy growing near our house, but my dog was not. The result was a huge bubbling welt that covered most of my left forearm. The affected area stood half an inch higher than the rest of my skin and just about drove me to distraction. Cortisone cream and antihistamines saved me from self-destruction.

Since then encounters have been less exciting. I have taken to wearing long pants and long-sleeved shirts when walking in uncharted regions. I have also learned to identify and use antidote plants when I know I've had a brush with the beastie. I did manage to get a small dose of it on my fingers two winters ago. I cleverly managed to graze a cluster of poison ivy berries, dried and hanging from a leafless vine, while retying my boot lace.

To protect yourself from poison ivy

1) Learn to recognize where it is likely to grow. Books will tell you woods and thickets, but I have learned that sandy soil, railway beds, and beaches are prime sites.

2) Memorize the appearance of the leaves and the maxim "leaflets three, let it be!"

3) Always look before you leap, or step off a road or path (or stoop to retie your boot).

4) If you are heading into poison ivy land, wear protective clothing. Be careful to use gloves when removing said clothing. If you suspect your skin has come into contact with the oil, look around for jewelweed, tall pale green succulent plants with dangling orange flowers almost always found in damp areas near poison ivy patches. Crush the stem and apply the jewelweed juice to contaminated skin. The juice contains antihistamine and ant-inflammatory components and is a well-known preventative and cure.

5) If you can't find jewelweed wash your skin thoroughly with soapy water as soon as you get home.

A word of advice: Never burn poison ivy. A family friend was hospitalized with blisters in his lungs after he inhaled smoke from the burning ivy plants he was attempting to destroy.

Finally, poison ivy does have one redeeming quality. The fruit is a significant food source for a large number of birds. Woodpeckers, juncos, thrushes and many others seem to be immune to the urushiol, as are the bears, rabbits, mice and deer that can eat the leaves. Oh, to be granted immunity!