Your dog and cat don’t get it, nor do birds, deer, squirrels, snakes and insects. Humans and possibly a few other primates are the only animals that get a rash from poison ivy.With burning, the urushiol becomes volatilized in the smoke and you can get it in your lungs, which is very dangerous and can even lead to death. Every part of the poison ivy plant-leaves, stems, roots-is poisonous, so don’t burn it, Wurdack says.Poison oak and poison sumac are in the same genus as poison ivy. Pistachios also belong to this family but do not cause a rash. People who chew the mango flesh from mango skins frequently get a blister rash on their lips. All three of these plants produce urushiol, the compound that causes the itchy rash. ![]() Poison ivy belongs to the same plant family, Anacardiaceae, as mangos and cashews.If you’ve had a run-in with poison ivy this summer or in summers past, here are a few interesting facts about this woody vine offered up by botanists Susan Pell, president of the Torrey Botanical Society, and Ken Wurdack, of the Botany Department at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, African ArtĪhhh, the sensations of summer…ocean sand between your toes, a cool drink in the shade, and red itchy welts courtesy of that three-leaved miscreant: poison ivy ( Toxicodendron radicans).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |