Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Leaves of three...

One of the first plants to turn red each fall is poison ivy - who knew it could be so pretty? I itch just looking at the stuff. The oil from the plant (called urushiol) can stay active for five years even after the plant is dead. It's such a deceptive plant - you'll find it growing in a vine, or it could be a bush or just growing along the ground. The leaves are sometimes shiny, other times dull -- sometimes the edges are notched, other times smooth. But one thing that's always consistent, they're always in threes. Here's a poison ivy quiz. You didn't know there'd be a quiz today, did you?! :)

3 comments:

  1. Cool quiz. But I failed miserably. Guess I don't know how to pick my poison. :)

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  2. I saw these also while out walking and, like you, thought who knew?

    Deceptive is a good word for it, I have had poison ivy rash every summer for years now, usually ending up getting shots. I have learned not to actually touch it, but once got it from petting the cat and last summer from the laundry (I had hiked through some and forgot until 3 days later when doing the wash).

    Even tho, it does color up real nice for autumn, thanks for the picture!

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  3. Cool Quiz Mark.
    I made the mistake of looking at the skin rash photos though. GROSS!!!!

    ReplyDelete

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