Toxicodendron radicans (L.) Kuntze
ANACARDIACEAE (Cashew Family)
| Taxonomy |
Toxicodendron radicans (L.) Kuntze
ANACARDIACEAE (Cashew Family)
| |
| Etymology | Toxicodendron means poison tree: toxicarius (Latin) = poisonous + dendron (Greek) = tree; radicans, from the Latin for having stems that root, in reference to poison ivy's aerial roots. | |
| Synonyms (Common Name) | Poinson Mercury | |
| Description | Poison ivy occurs as a low trailing herb, an erect broad-leaved shrub, or a climbing vine in a wide variety of habitats from roadsides to dry woods and thickets to seasonally-flooded wetlands. Climbing woody stems have dense, hairy, aerial rootlets. All parts of the plant are poisonous and can cause painful skin irritation. | |
| Wetland indicator status | FAC | |
| Leaves | Deciduous, alternate, entire or with a few coarse teeth, compound leaves with 3 leaflets, 2-6" long; leaflets elliptical to ovate, pointed tips, sometimes with lobe or "thumb," shiny green; terminal leaflet on longer stalk, milky sap; crimson or yellow in fall. | |
| Flower/Inflorescence | Yellowish-green, tiny, five petals, clusters to 4" long in axils of previous year's leaves. | |
| Flowering Period | May-July | |
| Fruit | Berry-like drupe, small (3/16"), whitish, round, waxy, in clusters. | |
| Fruiting Period | August-October. | |
| Habitat | Many, including: roadsides, along fences, dry woods and thickets, seasonally flooded wetlands. | |
| Range | Nova Scotia to British Columbia, south to Florida, Texas, and Mexico. |