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[pct-l] Poison Oak



At 04:37 PM 3/7/02, Charlie Thorpe wrote:
>We never did get any kind of rash.

I wasn't there so I don't know if you were in Poison Oak or not.

About 1/4 of folks are not allergic to Poison Oak. None of my family is, so 
I assume some of it is genetic, so you and your son probably only make one 
sample.

>BTW, Brick, those pictures you sent out look just like the veggie those
>well-meaning folks at the hatchery were confused about.  You might want to
>ask some hikers in south California what poison  oak really looks like...

Many oaks look similar, but the oaks all have little points on edges of the 
leaves.

The California blackberry looks similar too, but it has thorns on the stems.

Poison oak has smooth edges, and smooth stems.

Poison Oak always comes in 3 leaf clusters.

Another plant that looks very similar I think is called "deer brush," but 
the center leaf on that plant does not have a distinct stem: i.e. the leaf 
body goes all the way down to the junction of the other two leaves.

Poison oak likes to grow near water, or in creek beds (dry or not...), and 
doesn't go much above 4000 feet in elevation

Here are some more info
http://directory.google.com/Top/Recreation/Outdoors/Wildlife/Plants/Poison_Ivy,_Oak,_and_Sumac/
--
Brick Robbins                       mailto:brick@fastpack.com