Stats

Lifespan

Perennial

Size

Medium

Diet

Photosynthetic

Biome

Temperate forest

Range

Eastern North America

Movement

Climbing

Breeding

Seeds

Defense

Toxins

Status

Common

About

Eastern poison ivy is a widespread North American vine and shrub notorious for triggering intensely itchy, blistering rashes — its oily resin urushiol causes an allergic reaction in roughly 85% of people, even from brief contact with leaves, stems, or roots.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   seed

   A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2. 2.
   sprout

   A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3. 3.
   sapling

   A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4. 4.
   mature

   Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Plantae

Phylum

Tracheophyta

Class

Magnoliopsida

Order

Sapindales

Family

Anacardiaceae

Genus

Toxicodendron

Species

Toxicodendron radicans