Tulsa World: Leaves of 3, let them be

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Leaves of 3, let them be
Here's the poison ivy info you're itching for

At the park Friday, Oxley Nature Director Ed Reese shows what poison ivy looks like. Stephen Pingry / Tulsa World

By PHIL MULKINS World Staff Writer
Published: 7/13/2009 2:24 AM
Last Modified: 7/13/2009 4:31 AM

Earlier wet weather in the Tulsa area has helped produce a thick crop of poison ivy.

The term "poison ivy" was coined by Captain John Smith in 1609 as it is mistaken for English ivy. Boy Scouts are taught, "leaves be three, leave it be."

Three varieties are so common here that the University of Oklahoma campus Police Department includes a "Poison Ivy: Toxicodendron radicans" chapter in its Police Notebook ( tulsaworld.com/OUPDpoisonivy ), an online information site on surviving campus life.

Here are some facts and tips about the rash-producing plant:

Leaves of three: The notebook says poison ivy has groups of three, egg-shaped leaflets, their petioles springing from the same branch node. Leaflets are fairly smooth and can be dull or glossy green. Mature leaves often have three large teeth (cutouts) on either side. About 90 percent of Americans are allergic to the urushiol oil in the sap.

Vines or shrubs: Poison ivy can grow as a self-supporting, woody shrub, as a thin trailing vine running along the ground, or as an aerial-rooted vine growing on shrubs, trees, power poles, etc. The aerial-rooted specimens often have a fuzzy rope-like appearance. Older vines grow to 3-inch diameters and 30 feet high. It reproduces by seeds in berries eaten and transported by birds and woody rhizomes creeping under lawn thatch.

Exposure: If you realize within 30 minutes that you've gotten into it, go to a washing station (home bathroom, flowing stream, etc.). Remove clothing touched by leaves or dampened by sap and drop it in a plastic garbage bag for disposal. Rinse exposed areas with cool running water for 15 minutes. Use dish soap if available. Do not bathe in standing water — the oil will float and settle on other body parts.

Mythology: The Poison Ivy, Oak and Sumac Information Center at tulsaworld.com/PIinfoCent says the plant's folk mythology confuses many. Scratching the rash won't spread it to other body parts or other people. The rash is spread only by oil still on the hands that touch other body parts. Also, stay away from leaf-pile smoke or any mechanism lofting the oil: lawnmowers, trimmers, leaf mulchers. It is active on clothes, dead plants and garden tools for five years.

Rash: If it is on your face, genitalia or you suffer airway restriction — go to the emergency room. General rashes can be treated with a Cortaid poison ivy care treatment kit, Caladryl, Benadryl, calamine lotion and various over-the-counter salves rated for skin rashes. Natural treatments are a baking soda bath, oatmeal and water paste held in place by plastic wrap, white vinegar compress, Miracle Whip as a solvent washed off with Dawn dishwashing liquid, or buttermilk as an ointment.

Phil Mulkins 699-8888
phil.mulkins@tulsaworld.com By PHIL MULKINS World Staff Writer

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	Report Comment Eagle 4, Tulsa (7/13/2009 8:32:59 AM) Poison ivy is analogous to karma - while you are reveling and romping in the woods, you are collecting the invisible retribution to your very being. Days of misery slathered in calamine lotion during my youth taught me all I would ever want to know about karma.
	Report Comment 2ndjoyce, normal (7/13/2009 9:03:48 AM) That's funny, lola! I almost yelled at the guy in the picture not to touch! One day after clearing some brush in our yard, I saw a monster in my mirror and, upon the realization it was me, promptly passed out.

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