Pictures of Rashes & Plants

Medically Reviewed by Dan Brennan, MD on November 25, 2022

Fact. Poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac grow in wooded or marshy areas throughout North America. The plants aren’t really poisonous. They have a sticky, long-lasting oil called urushiol that causes an itchy, blistering rash after it touches your skin. Even slight contact, like brushing up against the leaves, can leave the oil behind. Poison ivy and poison oak grow as vines or shrubs. Poison sumac is a shrub or tree.

Myth. Poison ivy is the only one that always has three leaves, one on each side and one in the center. They’re shiny with smooth or slightly notched edges. Poison oak looks similar, but the leaves are larger and more rounded like an oak leaf. They have a textured, hairy surface. There may be groups of three, five, or seven leaves. Poison sumac leaves grow in clusters of seven to 13 leaves, with one by itself at the end.

Myth. It forms within 24 to 72 hours of contact, depending on where the plant touched you. It usually peaks within a week, but can last as long as 3 weeks. A rash from poison ivy, oak, or sumac looks like patches or streaks of red, raised blisters. The rash doesn’t usually spread unless urushiol is still in contact with your skin.

Myth. It’s usually safe to breathe where poison plants grow. But if you burn them in your yard, the smoke could cause problems. When poison ivy leaves burn, they put out chemicals that can bother your eyes, nose, or lungs. You may need to see a doctor if you breathe the smoke. They’ll prescribe steroids to control your symptoms.

Fact. Keep your skin covered to avoid contact with these plants. Wear a long-sleeved shirt, long pants, gloves, and closed shoes if you’re in an area where they grow. Tie the bottoms of your pants legs or tuck them into your boots. Wear gloves when you handle bagged mulch or bales of pine straw. Keep a pair of shoes just for outside use and keep them outdoors. Try a lotion that has bentoquatam. It acts as a barrier between urushiol and your skin.

Fact. Urushiol begins to stick within minutes. If you know you’ve made contact with poison ivy, oak, or sumac, wash the area with lukewarm water and soap ASAP. If there’s no water, rubbing alcohol or alcohol wipes can remove it. Keep the area cool, dry, and clean. Wash your clothes and clean your boots or shoes. Hose down any garden tools that might have touched the plant.

Myth. But using them along with over-the-counter medicine can ease the itch and keep you more comfortable. Once a rash appears, keep it clean, dry, and cool. Calamine lotion, diphenhydramine, or hydrocortisone can help control itching. Cool compresses or baths with baking soda or oatmeal can also soothe the rash. Don’t scratch. It won’t spread the rash, but can cause scars or infection. Your doctor may suggest other treatments for your symptoms.

Myth. If someone in your household has poison ivy, oak, or sumac, you can’t catch it from them, even if you come into contact with the blisters. Just because you’ve never had a rash from one of these plants doesn’t mean you’re in the clear. Most people — about 85% — are allergic to urushiol. You can be affected by it at any age.

Myth. See your doc if the rash is close to your eyes or is widespread over your body. If needed, they can prescribe medications you take by mouth that will help with swelling and itching. Head to the emergency room if you have severe reactions in addition to the rash, like nausea, fever, shortness of breath, extreme soreness at the rash site, or swollen lymph nodes. Call 911 if you have any trouble breathing or feel faint.

Fact. A dog’s or a cat’s fur usually protects its skin from urushiol. But it can stay on the fur and rub off on you. If your pet explores areas where these plants are found, bathe them with soap and cool water. Be sure to wear gloves.

Myth. Don’t burn poison ivy, oak, or sumac. Particles of urushiol remain in the smoke and can aggravate your eyes, nose, and respiratory tract, and can land on the skin. Instead, dress appropriately and dig out the plants, getting as much of the root as possible. Put them in a plastic trash bag and throw it away. Have someone else do this if you’re super-sensitive to the plant. Some plant killers may work. Read the label carefully and use it at the right time of the year. Be careful — urushiol remains active, even on dead plants.

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SOURCES:

American Academy of Dermatology: “Poison Ivy, Oak and Sumac. “
Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America: “Poison Plants.”
Occupational Safety and Health Organization (OSHA) Fact Sheet: “Working Outdoors in Warm Climates.”
University of Connecticut Integrated Pest Management: “Dealing With Poison Ivy.”
University of Oregon Health Center: “Facts & Fiction About Poison Oak and Ivy.”

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How to identify and treat common plant rashes

How to identify and treat common plant rashes

Whether you enjoy hiking, doing yard work or just being outside, it’s likely that you’ll eventually encounter some of the Tri-state Area’s least favorite plants: poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac. Learn how to spot the plants and what to do if you accidentally touch them.

What do poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac look like?

There’s a reason for the saying “leaves of three, let it be.” That’s because both poison ivy and poison oak commonly have three green leaves per stem. Poison sumac, on the other hand, can have anywhere between seven and 13 leaves. See the differences here.

Why do poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac cause a rash?

The plants are part of the Toxicodendron genus—a family of plants characterized by its mixture of oil and resin known as oleoresin. Within this oleoresin is a chemical called urushiol. Urushiol is allergenic, so much so that a rash develops in up to 90 percent of people who come into contact with as little as 50 micrograms of it. For reference, that’s less than one grain of table salt!

How can I tell if I have a rash from urushiol?

A urushiol rash usually has a linear (line-like) appearance. The rash may appear flat and red or as large blisters. What it looks like specifically, and how much area the rash covers, depends on how much poison ivy, poison oak or poison sumac you touched or if you previously were ever exposed to urushiol.

Will my rash spread from itching it?

Some people believe that itching or scratching a urushiol rash can make it spread on the body. This isn’t true. If it seems like poison ivy, poison oak or poison sumac rash is spreading, this is because of the amount of urushiol you touched.

For example, if you get a lot of urushiol on one part of your body, your immune system will recognize this large dose first and blossom a rash there more quickly. Other areas where you encounter less urushiol will take longer for a rash to pop up, making it seem like your rash is growing over time. (It can take up to three weeks for a rash to appear if you’ve never come into contact with urushiol before.)

Regardless, the next time you are exposed to urushiol, your body will already have immune cells waiting to make a rash. This means that with each subsequent exposure to urushiol, your rash will likely appear faster and be worse.

So, urushiol rashes aren’t contagious?

That’s right. While poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac rashes aren’t contagious, urushiol can be spread by contaminated surfaces. Think dogs or cats. The oleoresin that contains urushiol can sit on an animal’s fur without causing a rash and then transfer to you.

What should I do if I touch poison ivy, poison oak or poison sumac?

If you have a known exposure to the plants, flush the area with plenty of water. And be sure to act quickly. After 10 minutes, you’ve missed your window of opportunity to rinse off and a rash will form. It’s also important to keep in mind that soap and alcohol can expand the area of oleoresin on your body, so don’t immediately use these substances. Stick to water.

What else can I do to treat a urushiol rash?

As for at-home treatments, taking a cool bath and applying calamine lotion can help. If your rash covers a lot of skin, talk to your healthcare provider about your options. They can help you understand the most effective treatments, including a prescription oral steroid that’s taken for two to three weeks.

Watch out, grass! Safety rules in the forest and on the meadow

Summer begins, and it draws to nature! Meanwhile, in the fields and summer cottages this year, an unprecedented amount of cow parsnip has sprouted. And this is such a harmful grass that many civilized countries are already fighting it at the level of state programs! So that your vacation in the country or in the forest is not overshadowed by sudden troubles, you need to know what other dangerous plants you may encounter and explain to your children the rules for handling them.

Sosnowski’s hogweed

Photo: wikimedia.org / Ummagumma

Hogweed is a herbaceous plant with large leaves, powerful stems and umbellate inflorescences, similar to huge dill umbrellas. Many people know that neither the leaves nor the inflorescences of the hogweed can be touched. But not everyone knows how to recognize this plant and remember the danger in time.

Meanwhile, its juice contains substances that, when it comes into contact with the skin, make it defenseless against the sun’s rays. And since no unpleasant sensations immediately appear, a person may not even notice that he touched the hogweed, and get very serious sunburn. In just 2-3 minutes of exposure to the open sun after contact with cow parsnip, you can get phytophotodermatitis of such strength that the skin is covered with blisters. Even subsequent tissue necrosis is possible, so the risk cannot be underestimated!

Sosnowski’s hogweed, the most dangerous of the hogweeds, was cultivated for some time as a silage crop. Therefore, it has become widespread and is found everywhere in the wild! Wastelands, banks of reservoirs, stripes along roads … It can be found even along country fences. By the way, there it is also dangerous because when mowing grass, poisonous juice can easily get on the skin and even the mucous membranes of the nose and eyes. The risk associated with it is so great that in many European countries there are even government and public programs to combat hogweed.

Remember that the only sure way to prevent sunburn is to immediately wash the skin with plenty of water and cover it from the sun with a gauze bandage. The skin should be protected for up to two weeks until its ability to resist sunburn is restored.

Ash tree

Photo: wikimedia.org / Jean-Paul GRANDMONT

Similar burns are left on the skin by the herbaceous plant Ash tree, which in different places is also called wild star anise, volcana, ash tree, badan and burning bush. The last name arose because in the heat this plant exudes such an amount of essential oils that if you bring a burning match to it, then a fireball flares up around it for a moment and immediately goes out, leaving the plant unharmed.

Ash tree grows in the south of Russia, in the Caucasus and Crimea, as well as in southern Siberia. It is also widespread in most European countries. This plant prefers rocky places, and sometimes it can be found in bushes.

Ash tree grows up to 90 cm high, its leaves are similar to ash leaves, hence the name. The flowers are collected in oblong, vertically upward brushes up to 15 cm long. They are very beautiful: white, pink or lilac, with dark purple streaks. The whole plant exudes a pungent aroma that can give people a headache that lasts for several hours. Although initially it seems harmless and similar to the smell of citrus peel.

But it’s much worse to touch the ash tree with your hands. Phytoburns, which appear after about a day, can be very strong – with blisters and ulcers filled with a clear liquid. The victim may have a fever, he experiences severe weakness. After some time, the blisters burst and open wounds that do not heal for a long time.

In the event that you are injured by this plant, care should be taken for wounds like second-degree burns – bandage the affected areas in time until they heal, and in no case remove the crusts that form on the affected areas until they fall off on their own. However, even after this, the places of burns remain noticeable for more than a year.

Cicuta

Photo: wikimedia.org / Kristian Peters – Fabelfroh

Cicuta is a beautiful herbaceous plant with fleshy stems, pinnate leaves and complex and double umbels-inflorescences. Harmless and even beautiful in appearance, it is one of the most poisonous plants on earth. And if you have a bad habit of plucking and sucking sweetish stems, never do this with unfamiliar plants. Hemlock is also dangerous because it can deceive with its “edible” aroma: it exudes a pleasant smell of carrots, and its white, fleshy rhizome resembles a radish. However, you absolutely cannot try it!

Only 200 g of hemlock rhizome or stalks is a lethal dose for a cow, but 30 g is enough for a human.

Lily of the valley

Photo: wikimedia.org / Lazaregagnidze

Right now, lovely May lilies of the valley are blooming in the forests near Moscow. Grandmothers near the metro sell touching fragrant bouquets. But lilies of the valley are poisonous entirely! Lily of the valley juice contains convallatoxin. Even the water in which the bouquets stand becomes poisonous. Strictly speaking, in small doses, lily of the valley is a pacemaker, but even a very small overdose leads to blockade of the electrical conduction of the heart and damage to the nervous system.

Buttercup caustic

Photo: wikimedia.org / E-190

Everyone knows the small yellow buttercups that now grow profusely along roadsides and in forest clearings. However, do not try to lie in such a clearing, or pick up an armful of these lovely flowers. The volatile substance they secrete, protoanemonin, very soon leads to pain in the eyes and can even lead to temporary blindness. No wonder one of the popular names for buttercup is “night blindness”. Protoanemonin irritates not only the eyes, but also the mucous membranes of the nose and larynx. And if the idea arises to chew on a buttercup stalk, then very soon there will be nausea, vomiting and stomach cramps. So it’s better to admire the yellow glades from afar.

Colchicum

Photo: wikimedia.org / Meneerke bloem

Colchicum’s charming flowers are easily mistaken for crocuses. It looks very beautiful: delicate purple petals form a flower that looks like a narrow glass, with a yellow core in the very depths. Colchicum only blooms in autumn, and for planting it is bought right now, at the end of May and June. It is very popular with gardeners, but we must not forget that, unlike the harmless crocus, all parts of the crocus contain colchicine, a nerve-paralytic poison for which there is no antidote. Symptoms of poisoning are bloody vomiting, diarrhea, irritation of the oral mucosa. Only timely gastric lavage in a hospital can save a person who has tasted colchicum.

This is just a small list of the most dangerous herbs and flowers that are easy to encounter at this time of the year. Of course, there are actually more. There is also a beautiful and poisonous blue delphinium flower, purple delicate aconite, and finally, hydrangea and rhododendron, beloved by gardeners. All these plants contain poisons of varying degrees of danger, and therefore they should not be tasted. Be careful yourself and explain to the children what dangers the herbs and flowers that have grown these days in the forest and in the country carry.

10 Rashy Plants You Should Know About

Image – Flickr / chausinho

Human skin is very, very fragile, so when we venture out into the countryside or into an area (or garden) full of wild herbs, our hands are usually well protected in pockets. And yes, there are many plants that cause rashes in both children and adults.

This does not mean that all those that I will now name cause the same reaction in all people, no, because this will depend on how our body reacts. But yes, I recommend that you do not handle them without gloves .

Index

• 1 Adelfa
• 2 Vatochnik
• 3 Diplosion
• 4 Duvalia
• 5 Euphorbia
• 6 Ficus
• 7 Poison ivy
• 8 Nettle
• 9 Plumeria
• 10 Desert rose whose name is Nerium oleander , It is an evergreen shrub that can reach a height of about 2 meters. , but usually it is much smaller, 1 meter or even less. It blooms in spring and summer, and at moderate temperatures (that is, if they stay between 18 and 25ºC) it can also bloom in early autumn.

  Its ease of cultivation and beauty make it a very interesting garden plant, but its sap must be thought to cause a rash if it comes into contact with the skin .

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  Milkwort

  Image – Wikimedia / JMK

  Sex Milkweed It consists of evergreen herbs or shrubs that produce many flowers grouped in bright inflorescences. In addition, you must know they are the main food of monarch butterflies, beetles and other insects, so it is not surprising that they defend themselves as best they can. And how does he do it? Production of toxic latex .

  This is the same latex that, if we are not lucky enough to touch it with our bare hand, can cause a painful rash.

  Diplatia

  Diplatia, or Mandevilla, This is a creeper of tropical and evergreen origin, which is widely used to decorate gardens and home interiors. . It blooms with white, yellow, pink or red bells in spring and especially in summer. But did you know that its juice is a latex that can irritate the skin?

  And, of course, in contact with a wound, even a barely visible microcut, you can feel great discomfort . Therefore, it is important to be careful when pruning.

  Duvalia

  Image – Flickr / Maja Dumat

  The Duvalia genus consists of small succulent plants, so it’s a little hard for us to touch their latex. But still and all, It is important that we know that it is colorless and may cause a rash. , especially if we have very sensitive skin.

  also you should know that its stems are succulent, elongated and have a length of no more than 4 centimeters. . The flowers are also small, about one centimeter in size, exuding an unpleasant aroma.

  Euphorbia

  All plants of the genus Euphorbia, of which there are many – there are about 2000 described species, including herbs, shrubs and trees -, Their stems contain latex which causes irritation and rashes on contact with the skin. . For this reason, we must be careful if we grow it and we need to prune it, for example, or change the pot.

  So, if we get Euphorbia pulcherrima (poinsettia), and Obese Euphorbia , or another of this genre, we must know that if we are going to manipulate it, we will have to protect our hands.

  Ficus

  Ficus, all characterized by being trees, shrubs and/or vines which, inside their stems and/or branches they have latex. For this reason, these are plants that can cause rashes if we are not careful. For this reason, although they are undoubtedly very beautiful and relatively easy to care for, it is always important to remember that our hands must be protected when handling them.

  And it’s that if they weren’t there, we might have bad times. Thus Do not hesitate to take preventive measures so that your hands are not full of small and painful blisters. .

  Poison ivy

  Image – Wikimedia/James St. John

  To avoid confusion, it is important to clarify that the species is known by this name. Radicans toxicodendron , not common ivy (Hedera). It is a climber growing up to 1-2 meters tall with green leaves. .

  This is one of the most dangerous species for humans, since it just a touch is enough for us to get a rash . It should also not be consumed as it can be fatal in extreme cases.

  nettle

  Nettle is a herb that almost no one wants to have in their garden. I say “almost” because it has many uses, as we explained in this article, but just needs a touch to turn the skin red . And if, in addition, we accidentally take it or touch it briefly, we will develop rashes that can be very painful.

  Why? Because on the underside of their leaves and on the stems they have spikes filled with a caustic liquid. . This fluid enters the wound that the thorn leaves when rubbed. In general, temporary discomfort will be felt.

  Plumeria

  La Plumeria This is a genus of trees and shrubs, usually evergreen, although they may also be deciduous, of tropical origin. They are characterized by large elongated green leaves and flowers. which, in addition to being very beautiful, are brightly colored, and exude a pleasant aroma.

  However, her latex is annoying . It is a white and milky substance that can cause occasional skin rashes. Therefore, we must wear gloves if we are going to transplant or prune it.