THE COMPLETE OUTDOORSMANS HANDBOOK.pdf - Doczine

more prevalent during the spring and early summer (the growing season) than during the fall or winter.The best method of dealing with poison ivy, poison sumac, and poison oak is to learn to recognize theplants and to avoid contact with them.POISON IVYPoison ivy is by far the most common troublemaker. Commonly it grows in thickets, open woods, sandyor rocky places, and on fence rows through most of the United States except in some very arid regions. Itis fairly abundant in southern Quebec, Ontario, the Great Lakes region, and the mid-west. It is notknown to grow above the tree line.Poison ivy is a twining, climbing vine that is almost shrub-like in appearance, but it can also supportitself by aerial roots on the trunks of trees and on fences, or it can be found in partially shaded woodlotsamong low growing plants such as ferns.Poison ivy has one easily recognizable characteristic - its compound leaf consisting of three leaflets.These leaflets are a bright, glossy green, oval-shaped, and smoothly textured. They are clusteredtogether and have sharply tipped points and widely serrated edges.The flowers of poison ivy, present in the spring and early summer, are borne in clusters and are smalland inconspicuous. The flowers are dainty, and vary in color from greenish white to cream. Closeknitclusters of berries, also greenish white or cream, develop from these flowers, and become hard and waxywhen mature. These berries persist through the winter and are a favorite and harmless food for manyspecies of birds. Not all poison ivy plants have berries.Such plants as poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac have toxic oils which can cause symptomsranging from mild itching to severe skin blisters. Learn to recognize these plants.POISON SUMACPoison sumac is a coarse shrub or a small tree generally ranging from four to twenty feet in height. Italso has compound leaves, but the number of leaflets ranges from seven to thirteen. These leaflets occuropposite each other on the branch, and have one terminal leaflet at the end of the branch. Poison sumacprefers wet, boggy, acid soils and thus generally occurs in wooded swamps. Its range extends throughmost of the south and southeastern United States, along the east coast into New England, through NewYork, the Great Lakes, and the mid-western states, and through southwestern Quebec and southernOntario.Poison sumac flowers are similar to those of poison ivy, but they grow in hanging clusters and originatein the axils of leaves. Poison sumac fruits are shiny, ivory-colored berries that hang in loose and droopybunches. These bunches may be as long as a foot. The berries persist throughout winter and provide foodfor many bird species.