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Is This Poison Ivy?

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Submitted by:  Gena Thomas
Date Submitted: 6/25/2003
Location: Tallahassee, FL

Question Asked: These are found all over my backyard and around my ground ferns in Tallahassee, FL. We just bought this house and there's a LOT of this, growing on the ground and up the tree and larger, bigger and darker leaves on the wooden fence. What do you think? Thanks very much.

Answer: Hi Gena -

What I see in these pictures along with the odd fern and weed is virginia creeper. Virginia creeper is a woody vine that will grow along the ground and up trees, structures, etc. The plant has leaves with 5 leaflets. The leaflets are attached in such as way as they resemble a palm (called "palmated"). As we've come to discover there are a number of people are are allergic to this plant. I'm one of those who can just pull it all day long (but am allergic to poison ivy). The incidence of dermatitis is much less for this plant than for poison ivy.

The second picture is different than the other 3. Based on what I'm seeing, it does not look like poison ivy. It also though doesn't look like virginia creeper. There are 3 to 5 leaflets per leaf in this picture but the leaflets look different. I'd love to see a better shot of this vine to do a better job on the id.