Common Name(s):

Eastern poison ivy

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Scientific Name:

Toxicodendron radicans

 

Native Range:

From Nova Scotia to British Columbia, from Quebec south to Florida, Texas, and Arizona

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USDA Symbol:

TORA2

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Habitat: 

• Rocky slopes

• Rloodplain forests

• Rartially shaded forests

• Forest edges

• Roadsides

• Fencerows

• Sodded yards

• Disturbed areas (logging, development, fire and floods)

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Growth Habit (3):

• Shrub

• Ground cover

• Vine

 

Stem Description:

• Woody, usually gray to reddish brown

• Can look "knobby" due to leaf scars

• No thorns or spines on stems

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Leaf Description:

• Three leaflets, one per node along stem

• Compound, trifoliate

• Leaves may droop from their stem in a horizontal plane

• Fall colors are yellow, bright green, orange, many shades of red and burgundy

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Leaf Arrangement:

• Alternate

 

Leaf Margin:

• Entire; lobed pointed; lobed rounded; crenate or sinuate

• Leaflets are never truly serrate (like a steak knife) but often have large “teeth"

 

Leaf Scars:

• U or V-shaped in an alternate arrangement along the woody stem

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Leaflet Surface:

• Shiny or dull; hairy or hairless; fleshy or thin

 

Flowering Period: 

• Early spring

Flower Description:

• Small, nondescript greenish-white to white flowers

• Grow from leaf axil

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Berry Description:

• Green and  round emerging from the leaf axil in summer, then turning white to creamy beige in the fall

•Berries may persist over the winter months into spring if they aren't eaten by birds and other wildlife, or if they don't fall naturally

• Poison ivy berries have one seed and are called drupes

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Benefits of this Species:

• Provides food for wildlife during the winter

• Is a pioneer species and prepares the soil for more desirable species to inhabit

 

Other Information:

• Is a member of the cashew family