[HN Gopher] Is This Poison Ivy? A 55-Question Quiz
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       Is This Poison Ivy? A 55-Question Quiz
        
       Author : marymkearney
       Score  : 29 points
       Date   : 2023-02-03 21:53 UTC (1 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.birdandmoon.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.birdandmoon.com)
        
       | rossdavidh wrote:
       | My score was 45/55, with a couple fat-fingered clicks but still I
       | was fooled sometimes. Even if you're not the woodsy type, it can
       | be found alongside paths in city parks and etc, so good to know
       | how to recognize.
        
       | ChrisMarshallNY wrote:
       | I have done pretty well, on this test (my wife showed it to me,
       | last year).
       | 
       | We grow poison ivy as a cash crop, around here. You learn to
       | recognize it.
        
         | trynewideas wrote:
         | A cash crop for what? What sells, why, and to whom?
        
           | ChrisMarshallNY wrote:
           | It was a joke.
           | 
           | It is _everywhere_. I once did a photo essay of a local
           | abandoned insane asylum. Some of the buildings are covered
           | with poison ivy, like English ivy (often, both).
           | 
           | Looks pretty in the fall, though.
           | 
           | ProTip: Don't burn it.
        
       | x3n0ph3n3 wrote:
       | I recently tried a soup in Korea (ocdalg or oht-tak) made from
       | Toxicodendron vernicifluum before knowing what it was. The people
       | I was with were very insistent that I take a pill to neutralize
       | the allergen (urushiol, found also in poison ivy, is technically
       | an allergen rather than a toxin) before I ate it.
       | 
       | Not everyone reacts to it, but when they do, it's pretty bad. The
       | others I ate with have no reaction to it at all.
        
       | bjt2n3904 wrote:
       | The trick someone taught me for identifying poison ivy (I've got
       | it ALL over my yard) was...
       | 
       | 1) Irregular leaf shape. The leaves just don't know how to grow.
       | Straight edge? Jagged edge? Both, neither?
       | 
       | 2) The three leaves form a T-shape, with the center leaf jutting
       | out.
        
         | ChrisMarshallNY wrote:
         | Kudzu looks similar (but bigger).
         | 
         | Kudzu has its own issues, but it isn't a blistering agent.
         | 
         | https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-s...
        
       | trynewideas wrote:
       | To save you the clicking, if you answer "No" to every picture,
       | you score 35/55 ("Not bad!").
        
       | evan_ wrote:
       | "Leaves of three, let it be"
        
       | greenbit wrote:
       | It's good to recognize the vines that run up tree trunks as well.
       | Easiest when they have leaves, but they don't always have leaves
       | especially in shady areas. The bigger vines tend to have a hairy
       | or bushy look, lots of little root-hair like bits, that seem to
       | help it cling to the tree bark, and these seem to have a reddish
       | hue about them.
        
       | marymkearney wrote:
       | Mostly of interest to readers in North America and China, where
       | Toxicodendron radicans is generally found.
       | 
       | Scores: 50/55, then 53/55, then 55/55. Better to over-ID than
       | under-ID (ask me how I know).
        
         | dgacmu wrote:
         | Ditto from a fellow "learned the hard way" poison ivy ID
         | fanatic. 52/55 - three false positives, no false negatives,
         | exactly as I'd prefer.
         | 
         | Well worth studying - and its habitat is spreading over time.
        
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       (page generated 2023-02-03 23:00 UTC)