Sand, sun and ... poison ivy

KEVIN P. O'CONNOR
Standard-Times correspondent
June 16, 2008 6:00 AM

The weekend has come and gone, but it left a gift that keeps on giving.

Little blisters that popped out between your fingers. A rash that makes both ankles itch.

Congratulations, you are one of the multitude to suffer from poison ivy this year.

The mild winter helped develop a bumper crop of the pernicious vine this year, landscapers say.

"It seems to be an irregular year for weed production," said Charles Duponte, the owner of Duponte Landscapes and Nursery on Prospect Road, in Mattapoisett.

"We had a mild winter and an early spring, so plants didn't have their normal winter setback. They came out of the ground in the spring ready to go."

Poison ivy vines are growing like the weeds they are, climbing up trees and crowding the edges of hiking trails, filling up every patch of sunny ground capable of supporting plant life.

"Poison ivy is always prevalent," said Marion Larson, an education biologist with the state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. "It is always around.

"It is a problem at this time of year because the warm weather brings people out of their homes.

"People go outside, they are unfamiliar with poison ivy and they get it."

Poison ivy can be found all through the United States and it is common here. It likes the sun but it can survive in the shade. It grows as a vine, a shrub, a ground cover and a weed.

"Most people don't realize how pervasive poison ivy is," Ms. Larson said. "In the spring and the summer, I run in one of our wildlife areas. I see it everywhere.

"It can spread. It can be invasive. It is found in so many environments you really can describe it as ubiquitous."

There is a lot to like about poison ivy. It has tenacious roots that help turn sand dunes into land and stabilize soil after flooding or mudslides have left the ground exposed. The berries on poison ivy feed a host of birds and woodland creatures, who suffer no ill effect from the contact.

"It is an important food source to wildlife," Ms. Larson said.

But there is reason to despise it, too.

"I see a lot of poison ivy at this time of year," said Hope Ryan, a nurse practitioner with SouthCoast Primary Care, 543 North St., New Bedford. "Poison ivy and Lyme disease. We see both this time of year."

The rash from the poison ivy is caused by contact with the urushiol oil that coats the leaves of poison ivy and lives inside its berries, roots and stems. Dermatologists say 85 percent of the human population is allergic to the oil.

You can pick up the oil from the plant, from your clothing, pets, boots and garden tools. Golfers get rashes from picking up golf balls. Hunters have caught the rash from oil left on hunting clothes from the previous year.

Once the oil has been washed away, the danger has passed.

"The biggest myth is that you can spread it through the liquid that comes from the weeping lesions on your rash," Mrs. Ryan said. "That is not true.

"Once you have washed the oil from your skin and clothing, you can't spread it."

Washing is the key to control. Wash with soap and lots of water or flood the skin with cool water if soap isn't available. Solvents work, too, such as rubbing alcohol, but it is better to avoid poison ivy in the first place.

Three leaves and shiny is the best description. The leaves start out maroon, shift to green and then turn a bright red in the fall. Some plants have white berries, but not all. Once you know it by sight, you will see it everywhere, landscapers and botanists say.

"The best prevention is identification," said Mr. Duponte, the landscaper. "I'm so allergic that I'm constantly alert to the plant. When I see it, I start to scratch immediately, even if I haven't touched it."

If you go into or near poison ivy, wash with soap and water as soon as you can and you should be safe, Ms. Larson said.

"But don't let poison ivy keep you indoors," she said. "You just have to learn what it looks like and take precautions. If you do that, you will be fine."

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