From Jackie, one of the young citizen scientists here at BioBlitz!
Poison ivy has three leaves and a green stem. The three leaves are jagged on the ends and two of the leaves are horizontal from each other and one leaf in between the two horizontal leaves. There is a similar species of ivy that looks similar to poison ivy that has five leaves and can easily be mistaken for poison ivy. In the poison ivy leaves, there is an oil that causes a rash. If you touch poison ivy, quickly wash the oil th water and you should be fine. If you don’t notice that you have poison ivy, put calamine lotion on the rash and it should clear up in a couple days. Some people aren’t sensitive to poison ivy and can rub it on their arm and it will not make a difference. Some people break out just by looking at poison ivy.
-Jackie, age 11
