Perth Amboy evening news., 1920-08-18
The Wherefore
OF Poison 10y


Look out for that poison Ivy"
is an oft repeated cry these picnic
days.
ITO know the poison ivy Is 20
avoid it, yet to admire Ii. for its
sturdy self-defense," says a COM
munication to the National Geogra-
phIc Society.
THE poison ivy is a member of
the sumac family, having Is rela-
tives the vinegar tree. the smooth
sumac. and the smoke-bush. Its
range reaches as far north as Nova
Scotia, as far south as Florida and
Texas, and as far west as Utah and
British Columbia.
MANY people confuse the vir-
ginia creeper with the rascally pois-
on ivy, a confusion which nothing
but carelessness in remembering the
characteristics of plants could oring
about; for the Virginia Keeper is
careful always to put forth five
leaves where the poison ivy has
only three.
The virginia Keeper is cou-
demned as being poison ivy oftener
than poison ivy is accredited with
being a Virginia creeper. Many a
Virginia creeper has reached the
untimely end of mattock execution
by the error, and not a few people
have received a painful reminder of
their mistake when they have fall
ed to observe hat three leaves spell
foe in the ivy vine and FIVE leaves
friend
The poison ivy, or poison oak, as
some call 1t, is a prodigal climber,
inclined to run over everything in
sight. Even the oak sometimes Is
almost smothered when the poison
ivy reaches its topmost branches and
spreads its dense foliage over them.
at begins to blossom in May and
June, its flowers being small. fra
grant, yellowish green, and arranged
in densely clustered spikes. Toward
fall these develop into smooth,
white, wax-like berries that often
hold fast the winter through. The
three leaves are shining green,
short-stemmed, and oval-pointed.
The poison of this ivy is a pow
erful, non-volatile oil which pene-
trates the pores of the human skin
and develops hosts of tiny itching
blisters, followed by a burning
swelling. of the affected parts.
while we very naturally dislike
a plant that poisons us when we
touch it, yet If we investigate the
reason for it's poison we discover
that a vast number of plants de-
velop poisons and near-poisons, and
when we look over the list WI find
that we would be rather badly off
without them. 1t is true that most
of them are poisonous only when
eaten, and that few are poisonous
to the touch, but they have all de-
veloped these qualities in self-de-
Tense.
''Some of them store their poison
in their seeds, others in their root
stocks, and others in their roots to
protect their progeny from harm.
They do not go about looking for
trouble or seeking, like the devil,
whom they may destroy; but they
are prepared to resist invasion of
rights of their children. Nux
vomica and aconite are two of many
such illustrations that might be
cited.
"Others develop alkaloids, like
the nicotine of tobacco, the quinine
of the cinchona tree, and the theme
of tea, to protect themselves.
Strychnine, digitalis. and a hundred
and one indispensable drugs that
are poisonous in overdoses are the
gift of the plant world to man as a
b~y-product of plant preparations for
self-defense.
"And so, when the poison ivy
learned to give off its poison by con-
tact rather than through its own
destruction, it simply went a step
further than its neighbors. 1t has
arranged its plans of defense, SO
that it can wage war without first
being eaten. In that respect 1t
the problem in the same way
as the thistle and the thorn, al
though it fights by subtle stealth
than open warfare"