Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Learning about plants, the hard way


Poison Ivy.


Mother fucker. After an entire lifetime of not being allergic to poison ivy, my body has finally changed, and I now contract annoying lumps all over my body when I come in contact with this crap.

So there you have it. Local plant number 1. I've spent some time getting to know it.

Poison ivy has three leaves. They are generally three times as long as they are wide, but come in any size. The new leaves have a reddish sheen in the spring, turn green throughout the summer and start to yellow a bit at the end of summer and fall. Its edges are sometimes smooth and sometimes serrated but rarely lobed. The veining on the leaves is pinnate. (One prominent vein and small veins stemming off of it)

The easiest way to distinguish poison ivy from other three-leaf plants is that the middle of the three leaves has its own extended stem.

asshole plant.

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