Poisonous Plants to Look out for on Your Next Camping Trip

Camping can be a blast, but there are some things that you have to look out for. Most people have allergic reactions to certain plants and some people don’t. There are those individuals that can wallow around in poisonous plants and not have a thing happen to them. Then there are those of us who can just look at a poisonous plant and suddenly break out in a rash that itches like mad.

So what are these plants that we all need to look out for? Well, here is a rundown for you:

• Poison ivy – The only place in North America that you won’t find poison ivy is in the Alaska, Hawaii, California, and Newfoundland. Everywhere else we are not so lucky. As for what it looks like: you have three leaves that are almond-shaped. You’ll also find grayish-white berries hanging out with these leaves. If you see these, you better run or you will be blistered and itchy.

• Poison oak – Poison oak is very similar to poison ivy. It appears to be a climbing vine that grows where the sun shines. There are two different types of poison oak. Western poison oak happens on the West Coast and Atlantic poison oak occurs on the East coast. The scalloped or toothed leaves come in threes. They also change colors through the seasons. They will be bronze when first opening, green in the spring, yellow or reddish in the summer, and will turn pink or bright red in the fall.

• Stinging nettles – These are rather easy to identify because they have small prickly hairs that stick to the skin and cause you to itch quite severely. The good news is that if you can find water and wash the affected area you get immediate relief. Just don’t touch the area after exposure.

• Poison sumac – Poison sumac usually appears as a shrub or a small tree. This is a poisonous plant that when burned can cause internal irritations. You’ll find that there are 7 to 10 leaves that are up to 10 cm long and attached, a white or gray berry. You’ll find the bunches of berries to be 10 to 20 cm long, which is how you can tell that you’re dealing with poison sumac and not a plain old sumac plant. Sumac is found in the Eastern U.S., but usually doesn’t grow West past Idaho.

So now you know what to look for so that your next camping trip doesn’t have you scratching yourself raw. To check out natural remedies for the rash see Poison Oak Remedies.