Friday, October 19, 2007

Ivy


Ivy, originally uploaded by Ontario Wanderer.

The Poison Ivy is lovely this time of year. Some people pick the leaves for their autumn table decorations. Others like the Poison Ivy white berries better.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

They are pretty, but I was surprised that some people pick them for displays. Have they lost their "sting" when they change colour?

Anonymous said...

Pick them for decoration??
I hope not..
What begins often as a breezy stroll through nature can sometimes end in an insatiable itch, a rash of red dots and a mess of oozing blisters. Those who've needed treatment for a poison ivy rash are not likely to forget the experience and are forever on the lookout for the glossy, three-leafed plants that provoke an allergic reaction in about 85 per cent of the population.
Hikers will have to adjust, depending on the season, as the leaves change colours from a reddish hue in spring to green in summer and a yellow, orange or red in the fall. In June and July, the plants have yellow flowers and in September they bear clusters of green and yellow berries.
Pick them for decoration??

Unknown said...

Another lesson for us that beauty can be deceptive :-) We don't have poison ivy here, thank goodness, but I remember unpleasant encounters from my childhood.

Ontario Wanderer said...

Actually my comment was a lot tongue-in-cheek. Yes poison ivy can cause a nasty rash at any time of the year and there are even reported cases of a person getting the rash by looking at a "dried" herbarium species that had been on the shelves for years. Despite that, there are many people that do not recognize Poison Ivy and collect it. Even worse, some people pick Poison Sumac which has a worse effect. All that being said, it is very attractive to look at . . . from a distance. Just don't touch