Have you ever heard the time-tested 鈥渓eaves of three, let it be鈥� warning to avoid itchy and swollen poison ivy rashes?
Research from Virginia Tech University found that it may not be the best line of defense.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been saying that because people really don鈥檛 want to come into contact with the plant,鈥� said John Jelesko, an associate professor in the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 been known that poison ivy is a shape-shifter. It has a way of taking on a lot of different forms.”
Jelesko’s students decided to identify the poisonous plant’s different variations.
They pored over publicly available data from more than 2,000 photos captured by nature lovers and photographers across the United States.
that poison ivy can take many different forms, including displaying five leaflets. And it can also mimic other harmless, three-leaf native vines like the American Hog Peanut plant, Jelesko told 草莓传媒.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really tricky. This likely accounts for a lot of accidental run-ins with the plant,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e got really solid measurements on this. The different shapes poison ivy can take on has enormous range.鈥�
Jelesko said it may be time to throw out the adage.
鈥淥ur data shows that advice is only going to go so far,鈥� he told 草莓传媒. 鈥淎nd probably not far enough to prevent getting a rash. Doctors are going to have come up with something a little bit better than 鈥榣eaves of three, let it be.鈥欌��
Jelesko said what hikers and nature lovers need on their outings is an expert.
鈥淢ost people are not going to become an expert,” he said. “But it turns out most of us carry around these little objects that are kind of experts, they’re smartphones.鈥�
Nature websites, , use artificial intelligence to immediately spot the differences between poison ivy and other innocuous plants.
“Just take a picture of something and they use really sophisticated AI, that does a pretty good job of identifying plants,” said Jelesko.
Another option is to wear protective clothing like pants and long-sleeve shirts on hikes to avoid the red, itchy blisters that come with poison ivy rashes.
鈥淚f there鈥檚 some place where you know there鈥檚 a lot of poison ivy, you鈥檒l really just want to cover up your skin,鈥� Jelesko said.
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