Poison Ivy to take over the worldFollow

USA Today article

Weed Science Poison Ivy Abstract
Weed Science Dandelion Abstract
Duke University Research


And dandelions too! I can't wait to have 50' tall weeds in my backyard so I can climb up to the top and ride on one of the seedpods a la 'A Bug's Life'. Didn't that do that in 'Honey I shrunk the kids' too? It's only a matter of time before we all cower in fear of our super-plant overlords.

I have cucumbers in my garden that have grown to four feet long and weigh probably forty pounds. I think anyone with their priorities in order should be much more afraid of them.

I also have a cabbage that is nearly two feet wide. It looks like Audrey II from "Little Shop of Horrors".

You have rabbits in Chicago? Wait, let me try that again . . . You have a yard in Chicago?

I'm out in the wilds of suburbia.

That said, there's plenty of bungalows and duplexes in Chicago with yards. Smaller yards than mine, but yards none the less.

All I have to do is look at poison ivy and I'll develop a rash. Jewel Weed works to counteract the oil though, so I aways try to find some, when I'm hiking around here.

Always bragging about the size of his cucumber and his big pair of cabbages.

It usually takes one good exposure to develope a sensitivity to the oil.

You need to not only come in contact with the plant, but actually have skin contact with the oil. The oil oozes out when the plant is broken, stepped on, squished, sat on etc.

The oil is easily a secondary means of contamination when it gets on clothes, car-door handles, etc, and is still viable and irrating even well into the winter when the tell-tale three-leaved plant is dried up and blown away..so be wary. The ooze that comes out of the blisters on ones skin is not however 'contagious'.

If you can rinse the bulk of the oil from your skin within an hour or so, you're likely to not develope much in the way of blistering. My trick, if I'm wearing shorts while hiking, is to rinse my legs and hands off at each stream crossing or a quick rinse with the water-bottle if there's no water around.

Interesting article.

I wonder if there are any useful plants out there that would thrive in a CO2 rich atmosphere.

The American Academy of Dermatology has nice info on it on their site. To summarize: the Posion Ivy Rash is an allergic reaction to the oil in the plant. Some people just are not allergic to it, but you can develop an allergy to it later on in life just like any other allergies. Interesting to note, like other allergies, you can lose it as you grow older if you avoid contact.



I would also point out that out that all that data is from the pre over the counter alergy supressant era. If you take things like Claritn regularly, it will likely reduce the percentage slightly or maybe even more.

Edited, Aug 14th 2007 11:46am by fhrugby

Maybe if you maxed out your poison resist.

Hey it says we can't go in, deballic does not have the Giant City in the Clouds expansion.

Horray for Mother Earth finally fighting back!

EDIT: I guess she has been for a while with the increasing hurricanes and natural disaster but all that pales in comparison to poison ivey! Next thing you know we'll figure out that global warming will doube the size of mosquitos!

Edited, Aug 17th 2007 8:24:46pm by Dreadkin

I've noticed that the size and the amount of poison ivy plants out on my land has gotten bigger. Some are huge and are 7ft tall + !!!