Poison Ivy

Poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) is a woody perennial native to North America that grows as a trailing groundcover, a low shrub, or a hairy climbing vine depending on conditions.

The classic identifier is its compound leaf of three leaflets, immortalized in the rhyme 'leaves of three, let it be'. Form, leaf shape and color vary considerably, which makes it tricky to recognize.

It is an ecologically valuable native plant whose berries feed many birds and whose foliage turns brilliant scarlet-orange in fall.

A highly variable native that can creep, mound or climb.

• Leaves: alternate, compound with three leaflets; the middle leaflet on a longer stalk; margins smooth, toothed or lobed; glossy or dull; reddish when new, green in summer, scarlet-orange in fall ('leaves of three, let it be')
• Vines: climbing stems are covered in dense aerial rootlets, giving a fuzzy, 'hairy rope' look on tree trunks
• Flowers: small, greenish-yellow clusters in spring
• Fruit: clusters of waxy, grayish-white berry-like drupes in late summer
• No thorns and never with more than three leaflets per leaf

This is a vigorous native plant that is generally managed rather than cultivated.

• Light/soil/water: Extremely adaptable, growing in sun or shade and in moist or dry soils, which is why it appears almost anywhere
• Habit: Spreads by creeping roots and by seed, and readily climbs tree trunks, fences and walls
• Removal: Wear gloves and protective clothing when handling it; dig out roots or cut and bag the plant. Avoid burning it
• Persistence: Because it regrows from roots, repeated removal is often needed to clear an area

Native and widespread across eastern and central North America, with related forms reaching into Mexico and Asia. It grows in woodlands, forest edges, fence rows, roadsides, riverbanks, disturbed ground and even gardens.

It is most common at the edges of habitats and in disturbed sunny-to-shady transitional areas, and readily colonizes fences, tree trunks and walls where it can climb.