Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Malvids: Sapindales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Toxicodendron radicans var. radicans
FAMILY
Anacardiaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read Poison Ivy: Aren't You Itching to Know All About It? at the A.C. Moore Herbarium website.
You may also want to check Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of North Carolina
Read more about Toxicodendron at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Toxicodendron radicans ssp. radicans
FAMILY
Anacardiaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 110-01-002:
Rhus radicans FAMILY Anacardiaceae
INCLUDING Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Rhus radicans var. radicans
INCLUDING Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Rhus radicans var. vulgaris
INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Toxicodendron radicans
COMMON NAME:
Eastern Poison Ivy
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
JK Marlow jkm191222_2374_t_radicans
Clay County AL
Cheaha State Park
)
USDA / Selected Weeds of the US. 1970 swus_page_257
)
JK Marlow jkm0404a_29
April Greenville County SC
Roadside
)
JK Marlow jkm120424_462
April Pickens County SC
Jocassee Gorges
)
JK Marlow jkm120424_478
April Pickens County SC
Jocassee Gorges
Note the dense aggregate of fibrous hair-like rootlets attached to tree bark, per Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011).
)
Keith Bradley kab_t_radicans_08107
April Miami-Dade County FL
)
Roxanna Martin rlm42411_13
April Spartanburg County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm090503_004
May Polk County NC
Trying to disguise itself as Hepatica acutiloba?
)
JK Marlow jkm180515_2243
May Spartanburg County SC
Roadside
Can grow as a prostrate ground cover, a low shrub, or a high-climbing vine, per Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011).
)
Roxanna Martin rlm52911_19
May Spartanburg County SC
Drupe glabrous to short-pubescent, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
Roxanna Martin rlm5708_086
May Spartanburg County SC
Panicles in the lower leaf axils, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow s040515_cdh
May Greenville County SC
Bunched Arrowhead Heritage Preserve
Lateral leaflets often assymmetric, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).
)
JK Marlow s040515_egj
May Greenville County SC
Bunched Arrowhead Heritage Preserve
Leaflets entire to serrate to shallowly lobed; lateral leaflets sessile, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).
COMPARE
leaves of Poison Ivy and others confused with it
)
JK Marlow s040515_ik
May Greenville County SC
Bunched Arrowhead Heritage Preserve
Leaves thin, softly hairy and lighter green beneath, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).
COMPARE
leaves that are trifoliolate and pinnately compound
)
JK Marlow jkm190601_8834
June Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm190601_8836
June Greenville County SC
Drupes papillose, scabrous or puberulent, per Weakley's Flora (2018).
)
JK Marlow jkm0410g_20
October Greenville County SC
Roadside
)
JK Marlow jkm0410g_21
October Greenville County SC
Roadside
)
JK Marlow jkm0410k_36
October Greenville County SC
Roadside
)
JK Marlow jkm0410m_22
October Greenville County SC
Bunched Arrowhead Heritage Preserve
Spherical dry hairless drupe, 4-7mm wide, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).
)
JK Marlow sbp_110923_3587
November Spartanburg County SC
)
Keith Bradley kab_t_radicans_9669
December SC
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Toxicodendron radicans var. radicans
FAMILY
Anacardiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Toxicodendron radicans ssp. radicans
FAMILY
Anacardiaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 110-01-002:
Rhus radicans
FAMILY
Anacardiaceae
INCLUDING
Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Rhus radicans var. radicans
INCLUDING
Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Rhus radicans var. vulgaris
INCLUDED WITHIN
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Toxicodendron radicans
1238
Shrub; Woody vine
Perennial
Habitat: In a wide range of habitats, including mesic forests, rock outcrops, swamp forests, brackish marshes, open areas, disturbed ground, usually in more mesic to hydric sites than T. pubescens, and particularly common in areas with fertile soils, such as bottomlands or over calcareous rocks or calcareous sands (as in maritime forests), per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
DOES THE PLANT HAVE "MILKY SAP"?
Has milky sap (latex)
LEAVES:
Deciduous
Odd-pinnately compound: 3 leaflets
Alternate
FLOWER:
Spring
Greenish-yellow/White
4-5 sepals
4-5 petals
4-5 stamens
Usually bisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
White/Gray
Drupe
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005) p294
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p086?
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p488
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p099
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p330
- How to Recognize Shrubs (Grimm, 1966) p167
- Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast (Foote & Jones, 1989) p085?
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p320
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p127
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p140?
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p167
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance) p07?
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p315
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p354
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p256
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
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