Poison ivy’s berries ripen about the same time the leaves turn red in fall.

How to identify poison ivy

It can be important to know how to spot this unpleasant plant. Poison ivy prefers moist, rich soil in full sun to part shade. You can find it along roadsides, in wooded, moist or wet areas.

 Check out some of its identifiable characteristics:

• Poison ivy’s leaves alternate along the stem.
• This woody weed can have an upright form up to 7 ft. tall or appear as a climbing vine, hanging on to trees or fences.
• Poison ivy leaves vary in size and shape but there are always three.
• The three leaflets, which are sometimes shiny, have a reddish cast and stem.
• Leaves tend to be pointed and may have a toothed or smooth edge.
• The illustration above shows how the leaves alternate along the stem.
• Insignificant green-white flowers appear in late spring, followed by fruit that ripens about the same time the leaves turn red in fall.
  
  

How to control and remove poison ivy

To pull or cut back the plant, be careful to keep urushiol, the sticky oil that is present in all parts of the plant, off your skin. Wear long pants, long sleeves and double gloves.

If you don’t want to handle it, spray the plant with a systemic herbicide (such as one containing glyphosate), but it’ll take time and several applications to eradicate it.

Keep an eye on any areas where you’ve removed poison ivy. There will be a few suckers or seedlings popping up here and there for a couple of years. Get them while they’re small, and you won’t have a big patch to clean up again. 

Oh … or, you could buy a goat! They like to eat poison ivy and have no reaction to it!

Poison ivy look-a-likes

Another sneaky thing about poison ivy: It has some lookalikes. You’ve probably heard the old saying, “Leaves of three, let it be.” That’s good advice — poison ivy doesn’t really stand out in a crowd, but it always has three leaflets on each leaf.

Box elder leaf stems are directly across from each other on the main stem. Poison ivy leaf stems alternate.

Poison ivy lookalike: Box elder

Seedlings and young plants of box elder tree are often mistaken for poison ivy and they tend to grow in the same places you’ll find poison ivy — along the fence, behind the garage, and other places where you may not do a lot of cultivating. The differences? Box elder stems aren’t red and often have a grayish “bloom” on them. And box elder leaf stems are directly across from each other on the main stem, rather than alternating, as poison ivy leaves are.

Poison ivy lookalike: Virginia creeper

You might find a Virginia creeper leaf with just three leaflets. But look at the rest of the vine and you’ll notice that most have five.

Poison ivy lookalike: Boston ivy

Another lookalike is Boston ivy, especially small, new growth. Unfortunately, it has a red stem, just like poison ivy, so it can be hard to tell the two apart. Usually, the leaf edges are a little more jagged, and the leaves are slightly smaller. But when in doubt, it’s best to be careful!