An unwelcome native- Poison Oak

Behind our house is a 40 acre park that is all Oak/Bay woodland and has more than just a little Poison Oak.  Our property backs up against the park so although it is not our land- we do kind of have Oak Woodland in our "backyard" and with it, comes the Poison Oak.

I have never had it.  That is kind of amazing.  It might be that I am one of the 15% of the population who does not develop a reaction.  This would be rather incredible since I have highly sensitive skin and am alway breaking out in hives for one strange reason or another.  But, given just how much time I have spent out in the woods either hiking, doing field work or mountain biking, it seems nearly impossible that I have not been exposed.  Yet... I have never had a reaction.

Unlike most people who I know who have no had it- I have no arrogance in thinking that I am immune- instead I am arrogant enough to think that I am just that good at not touching it.  The funny thing is that despite never having it, I am terrified of it.  I treat it like jumping cholla- I think that even the lightest touch will cause me to be covered in hives that will never go away and land me in the ER with a corticosterone mainline drip.  Deathly afraid of the stuff and really good at seeing it from far away.

Thicker leaves- but both the red and green
are Poison Oak.

Given my deep (and largely irrational) fear, I did the most remarkable thing today... I went up onto the hill and started cutting down Poison Oak.  Me.  Pulling, cutting and tearing at vines and thickets of Poison Oak directly.  Turns out I don't like all native plants.

This will be a good test of my immunity to PO (or lack thereof) as I was cutting down trees of the stuff and my gloves ended up slick and shiny from the oils.  I had so much oil on them that it started to get hard to grab some of the vines that I was pulling onto my head.  I had no idea that the trucks could get that thick!  I cut down two vines that had wended up into the canopy that were easily 3-4" across at the base.  They were just starting to leaf out and the poisoned oil was seeping out.  I did wear long pants, boots, gloves and a sweatshirt.  I then hopped into the shower and did a VERY good scrubbing with Tecnu.

Not sure what fool took this picture... but this is what I was
terrified of doing!  It is a great shot to show some of the
diversity of the leaf forms.  They were clearly growing together
probably on the same plant.

And yes... this is also Poison Oak.  Damn.

I am including this mention only because so many people do not know what it looks like in all of its various forms.  It really is a beautiful plant and remarkable in its versatility.  In fact, I just learned this, the scientific name is Toxicodendron diversilobum (scientific name literally means "toxic plant with many shaped leaves").  In some places, it is a low and delicate ground cover.  Others, it forms thick shrubs and sometimes even vines like I cut today.  Sometimes the leaves are small- nearly as small as a dime.  Other times, they are quite big- as large as an oak from which it gets it name or larger.  They are sometimes bright green, other times, an olive shade- in the fall, they turn red and orange and are perhaps the most lovely.  The thing to look for is that they are shiny with the oils that cause the rash.  Three leaves (actually, leaflets) on a single stem- they often look a little like blackberry- with slightly lobate leaves that look like oak.

Newly emerging leaves are often red.  Notice the shine.

The only way to learn Poison Oak is to just look for it in all the different forms.  If you have been exposed, Tecnu is the tried and true best thing to use for it (as I have witnessed so many of my suffering friends and family use).  Hopefully, I will arise tomorrow and the next day not have the tell tale seeping red blisters.

Fall Colors on a vining form

The bright green delicate form, notice the
three leaves on a single stem, shiny bright green. 

It starts to get tricky- look for the three leaflets and the oily
shine.

Beautiful, right? Who would think that this
large thick shrub would be the same nasty beast as the
bright green woodland vine?