Vine's Flora Friday: Poison Ivy

Poison ivy is found in Europe, North America and some parts of Asia. Its infamy comes from the oils in its leaves which cause a miserable and itchy rash on primates and humans that can last for weeks.

This pesky botanical creation produces small white, green or yellow flowers, often hidden in the shadows of the leaves. After being pollinated, the flowers turn into seeds which looks like a berry and are poisonous to humans. The berry-seeds are spread by avians or simply drop to the ground to continue reproduction. 

The small plant can manifest as a crawling vine which wraps itself around trees, or small under brush plants growing low to the ground. Poison ivy is easily recognized by its 3 leaves which sometimes have a pink or red center.


Although poison ivy has a reputation for being bad for our skin (and sometimes sanity when it comes to scratching the rashes madly), it ounce cured a mans herpes sores after its discovery by the Eastern World sometime before 1640. The man had been plagued by these rashes for six years and when the sores came in contact with poison ivy, he also got rashes from the plant. But when the poison ivy rashes cleared up, so did the herpes sores. Doctors and scientists continued to develop the vine and their research led to treatments for rheumatism and some types of paralysis.

Poison ivy is a vine with a reputation for causing terrible rashes, but has also been used to treat herpes, paralysis, and rheumatism. Next time you're avoiding this hazardous plant, remember its important properties.