The rule,Leaves of three,let them be!!!!

Still waitng for my snail vine to bloom,checking it over real close,for any signs of flower buds,it's a huge vine,several feet long and wide,while holding in my hands I realize it's 3 leaves and kind of resembles poison ivy????

I just saw some today - in it's favorite spot a ditch near some woods. Usually it is kind of glossy, but this wasn't. Yours in close, but not quite.

Poison ivy leaves are more serrated, and when you look at it, the leaves sort of look like a thumb & little finger w/ a middle leaf. (Hope that makes sense) Your snail vine is definately not poison ivy!

Here's a good picture for comparison: http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/4473/

What is his 5 leaf cousin's name? I thought it was VA creeper so I've been grabbing it bare handed and pulling it out of the ground. Obviously I'm not allergic to either.

Judy

Virginia Creeper is the five-leaf look-alike.

*They* say no one should assume they're not allergic to PI just because you've never had an outbreak.

I'm a poster child for that piece of advice: I lived for 40 years without ever having a PI rash, even though I break out in hives from numerous other things. About four years ago, I had my first (bad) outbreak of a PI rash, and each year I've had an outbreak (thankfully not as severe as the first year.)

Terry,

My mother is highly allergic to PI doesn't even have to touch it to breakout. I was making a new flower bed several years ago when she arrived and screamed 'put it down'. I had been pulling up the PI for hours. I'm constantly pulling up PI somewhere on the property. DH is allergic to it but I'm not at all, fortunately. However, I have one of those fire torches for the cow itch. lol lol

Judy

This message was edited Jul 30, 2006 1:48 AM

Thanks all,and terry for the link,I'd forgotten about the serrated leaf edges!!!
Judy,my dad was like your mother,he could catch it airborne,like you I can roll in it and never get a scratch,but I've heard other people say the same thing,but when they got older,the bodies immune system,didn't work as good as once did,and they get a small outbreak of it.
So keeping my fingers croossed!!!!

Don

What does a Virginia Creeper rash look like? I don't have PI on my property, not that I've seen, but I have lots of VC. I came in from the yard one day, and scratched what I thought was a bug bite on my lower leg. But it's a huge irregular patch: red, swollen, and itchy. Like the bug bite from h*11.

That was last week. It's still bothering me. And I'm not entirely sure that it isn't a bug bite from something I'm super allergic to, because I see what looks like a bug bite near the top of the patch.

http://poisonivy.aesir.com/view/pictures.html#373

Gross rash pictures.

Judy

Virginia creeper doesn't make a rash, as far as I know. I got my 1st SEVERE case of PI rash when I was clearing an area full of VC, not knowing that PI & VC blend in very well together!

I get at least one or two spider bites a summer,every morning before I leave for work,I walk thru the gardens,and overnite spiders weave these huge webs,and sometimes they are hard to see in the dark,even with my flashlight,and occasionally they get me,and they will swell up,about the size of a quarter on more,and itch a lot,and stays red for a couple of weeks,before they start to recede and go away. I pour alcohol on them to help dry them up.

Don

I don't think Virginia Creeper causes a rash; the PI cousin that does is Poison Oak.

However, when VA creeper first comes up it has 3 leaves causing folks (like me) to think it is PI; subsequent flushes of leaves have the traditional number of 5.

We have PI, PO and something else I have yet to identify. I usually confuse it with honeysuckle, but some of the leaves are serrated - usually the ones lower on the vine. My mother is horrendously allergic to whatever it is, so I've learned to watch out for it whenever she's around. I don't seem to have a problem with it, myself, though I do have (usually mild) reactions to PI and PO.

I've never had any reaction to VA creeper, either, and we have tons of that, too. (to the point that I wonder at the people who actually BUY the stuff to plant ;-) )

What about the vine poison sumac?
Does it look like the oak and ivy??

Virginia Creeper is a "good" vine. When it gets older and blooms, puts out berries and becomes a source of winter food for birds. PI is also a source of food for birds. If it is not in my way or in a flower bed it stays.

Are porcelion vines related to PI and VC,they have berries that turn blue as well.