Poison Ivy look alikes

Three views of poison ivy

Poison Ivy - probably the most famous poisonous plant of all.  Even Batman fights it (her).

"Leaves of three, leave it be" is the jingle we have heard universally to help us identify this plant non grata.





BUT, those of you who have been practicing your observational skills, have noticed other plants that have, or seem to have "leaves of three" that are not Poison Ivy.

Wild Raspberry

The one that I have seen adults often confuse is actually wild raspberry.  When the light is low, the wild raspberry becomes very vine like as it sends out tendrils to reproduce.These leaves are lighter in color and not as waxy as the poison ivy leaves.  The margins (outside circumference) of the leaf are also more jagged.



Another plant that can be mistaken for poison ivy to the uninformed is Virginia Creeper.  Virginia Creeper is an aggressive vine that can grow 6 feet in a short amount of time.  It often twines under leaf debris.  While the normal arrangement of leaflets is 5 arranged in a circle (palmate),  the smallest two leaflets are sometimes missing.  Again close observation of the shape of the leaves will help cast doubt on its poisonousness, but the way I end up confirming its intent is to scout around for other stems on the vine that have 5 leaflets.

The big blurry plant is wild strawberry

Finally, wild strawberry is another "leaves of three" plant.  In this case, the leaves while similar in overall shape, are different enough that this plant should not often be confused with poison ivy.  The margins are uniformly lobed.  The big yellow or white flowers and later small red strawberry fruit will help your identification also.


Practice smart outdoorsmanship:  If in doubt "leaves" it alone.

You might try looking online for more information on poison ivy
 kids site for poison ivy