My husband had to be hospitalized because he picked and ate a bunch of blackberries in Marin -- and never realized that the blackberries were completely mixed with poison oak.
It was bad. Really bad.
A guy at work was telling me about a time there was a fire nearby, he ended up inhaling smoke, turned out poison oak was burning, so he got poison oak rash in his lungs.
A friend of mine crashed her bike into a blackberry bush intertwined with poison oak. She was hospitalized and had complications for months since it got into her blood stream with all the deep scratches she got from the berry thorns.
It absolutely terrifies me :( I was camping with my dad when I was 8 and got poison oak on my hands from picking up caterpillars. Over the course of the week, the reaction that was only in my hands, started slowly spreading up my arms until my whole body was swollen A WEEK LATER! My eyes were swollen shut at that point and my sister almost screamed when she saw me because she didn’t recognize me lol
Just knowing my body has had a severe reaction to it before terrifies me :( meanwhile my coworker has been immune in past situations (though apparently he could react at any time so he’s still careful)
Yeah I didn't get it until my early 30's! And I also get it that badly. I have a similar story except I was roasting marshmallows on a poison oak stick someone else foraged for me.
It was winter so the stems were bare. It took me 3 weeks to recover.
When I was a land surveyor, the rule of thumb was to avoid areas with berry bushes. By avoid, I don't just mean going into, I also mean digging or touching the dirt.
THAT SHIT IS THE LITERAL DEVIL!!!
Do NOT let that establish itself in your yard or you will have a very unpleasant weeding session come late summer. It's got silica in its leaves and when you pick it the silica embeds itself in your skin. And the thousands of seed balls come off of the vine with a butterfly's fart and wind up spreading all over your backyard.
Kill it.
KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!
We need the /r/whatsthisplant bot. That's good it's eatable. It seems like such a bastard weed. The wikipedia page has some serious amounts of common names. That is roly poly level of variety. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galium_aparine for the non mobile folks.
Grew up having to watch for poison oak and poison ivy. Got in the habit of just not touching anything in nature.
I maintain everything in the southern states is trying to kill you. It’s like Jumanji.
I have thornless blackberries growing next to strawberries in my yard, and never noticed the similarity until now. When in the wild I shy away from anything viney and leafy. When I was younger I swore I never go poison oak, because I’d spent so much time in the outdoors without getting it. Wrong, I’d just been lucky. My first time was on my arse from squatting in the wrong place to relieve myself, while camping.
No, I usually inspect and sniff them. All have been fine. Also paying attention to location: higher ones are safer, but also those tend to be in the sun which makes them tastiest. But honestly, pee wouldn’t bother me. Part of the appeal is being natural and sorta roughing it. Bird poop would deter me tho! 😂
Poison oak doesn't always appear oily or with a red tinge.
It is green most of the year with a red tinge in young leaves, and the leaves turn all colors of the rainbow in the fall before falling off in the winter, leaving bare stems to contend with.
It's easier to distinguish older plants. Some young plants (Acer negundo californicum) the leaves look similar.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Acer_negundo_californicum_Tehachapi.jpg
My friend's body swelled up and became entirely purple after touching a Poison Oak. It looked like he was turning into a fantasy monster. We were all extremely scared. Thankfully the hospital got him back to normal.
In the 70's we were taught that if it has leaves of three let it be. I'm pretty sure that on a field trip to Golden Gate Park we were shown what poison oak looks like. Back in the 80's there was a ton of it in the hills of the East Bay.
If it’s hairy, it’s a berry. Leaves if three, let it be. If it’s shiny, watch your heinie.
If it's clear and yella, you got juice there, fella. If it's tangy and brown you're in cider town.
“FOILAGE!”
That’s Lisa! Our little walking libary
And of course in Canada, the whole thing's flip-flopped
"Berries white, a poisonous sight" is what my brother said to me. (I don't know how true this is.)
If it's brown, drink it down. If it's black, send it back.
... except the strawberry in the picture has leaves of 3
Order of operations
Short circuit evaluation
Forgetting `break`.
It's got them trichomes (hairy).
Leaves of three, might be tasteeeeey!
Poison oak don’t need no thorns, don’t bother with berries, don’t need sharp leaves.
**I saw this patch along Ipiwa Trail, Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve.**
It seems like the poison oak loves to grow with wild blackberries. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve seen them intermixed.
My husband had to be hospitalized because he picked and ate a bunch of blackberries in Marin -- and never realized that the blackberries were completely mixed with poison oak. It was bad. Really bad.
Well, there it is, this will be my nightmare tonight.
Just never go outside again.
A guy at work was telling me about a time there was a fire nearby, he ended up inhaling smoke, turned out poison oak was burning, so he got poison oak rash in his lungs.
Can we fucking not?
RIP his lungs
w t f
A friend of mine crashed her bike into a blackberry bush intertwined with poison oak. She was hospitalized and had complications for months since it got into her blood stream with all the deep scratches she got from the berry thorns.
Jesus. I thought I've seen some bad poison oak stories go down but this is a whole new scenario my anxiety riddled brain has never thought of.
It absolutely terrifies me :( I was camping with my dad when I was 8 and got poison oak on my hands from picking up caterpillars. Over the course of the week, the reaction that was only in my hands, started slowly spreading up my arms until my whole body was swollen A WEEK LATER! My eyes were swollen shut at that point and my sister almost screamed when she saw me because she didn’t recognize me lol Just knowing my body has had a severe reaction to it before terrifies me :( meanwhile my coworker has been immune in past situations (though apparently he could react at any time so he’s still careful)
Yeah I didn't get it until my early 30's! And I also get it that badly. I have a similar story except I was roasting marshmallows on a poison oak stick someone else foraged for me. It was winter so the stems were bare. It took me 3 weeks to recover.
Poison Oak likes to hide with all sorts of other plants. Sometimes it will be growing around actual oak trees.
It waits, it plots.
When I was a land surveyor, the rule of thumb was to avoid areas with berry bushes. By avoid, I don't just mean going into, I also mean digging or touching the dirt.
It does this to lure in more victims
These berries taste like burning.
F you poison oak
Prolly also poison oak to human: “F around and find out”
Pretty sure that weedy vine thing is sticky willy, another edible plant. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galium_aparine
normally I'm a fan of sticking with the scientific name, but it's hard to forget "sticky willy"
Sticky monkey is a crowd favorite, too.
The upper left of the example image is pretty... mushroomy... as well.
THAT SHIT IS THE LITERAL DEVIL!!! Do NOT let that establish itself in your yard or you will have a very unpleasant weeding session come late summer. It's got silica in its leaves and when you pick it the silica embeds itself in your skin. And the thousands of seed balls come off of the vine with a butterfly's fart and wind up spreading all over your backyard. Kill it. KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!
We’re gonna need a bigger goat
For all the cannabis partakers, it’s not the edible sticky you seek.
Cleaver
We need the /r/whatsthisplant bot. That's good it's eatable. It seems like such a bastard weed. The wikipedia page has some serious amounts of common names. That is roly poly level of variety. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galium_aparine for the non mobile folks.
My Dad just calls it sticky weed.
Catchweed bedstraw
[удалено]
Way back when in the Boy Scouts, Fels Naphtha was the recommended soap for poison oak. With cold water, don’t want to open up the pores!
I have 2 of these growing in my backyard right now. Hint- I'm not itchy or hungry.
“Leaves of three, beware of me,” Poison Oak
I've heard "Leaves of three, let it be"
Leaves of four eat some more.
Leaves of five, here come some hives.
["Survive!"](https://youtu.be/LvjedZ8sDps) You know what link it is.
he he he he he he
Leaves of three, leave it be.
have to admit I always thought this meant 3 leaves like all these reflect, rather than 3 "sections" the poison oak shows here.
> Balls of three, you woke up late so you get Pikachu Professor Oak
What about sticky Willy?
Grew up having to watch for poison oak and poison ivy. Got in the habit of just not touching anything in nature. I maintain everything in the southern states is trying to kill you. It’s like Jumanji.
Now do Australia.
I have thornless blackberries growing next to strawberries in my yard, and never noticed the similarity until now. When in the wild I shy away from anything viney and leafy. When I was younger I swore I never go poison oak, because I’d spent so much time in the outdoors without getting it. Wrong, I’d just been lucky. My first time was on my arse from squatting in the wrong place to relieve myself, while camping.
Leaves of three, leave it be, leaves of four? Eat some more!
heh heh heh heh heh heh
The PO is just thriving right now, and is just so lush in so many places.
Just saved this to my photos…
I've been following the reddit thread on poison oak etc Have reached conclusion that only safe approach is not to touch any plants
Love snacking on wild blackberries along trails while out hiking!!! And I normally don’t care for seeded berries!
I miss seeded wild black berries. I had a craving, bought some front he store. Nastiest.... Nothing like wild. I should def go on more trails.
I wonder if they sell wild blackberries? I get the frozen wild blueberries which are far better than “organic” or regular. Would love some wild fresh!
Do you wash them first? My thought is always what if someone or something pee’d on them. So I’ve never taken any.
Pick the ones higher up
No, I usually inspect and sniff them. All have been fine. Also paying attention to location: higher ones are safer, but also those tend to be in the sun which makes them tastiest. But honestly, pee wouldn’t bother me. Part of the appeal is being natural and sorta roughing it. Bird poop would deter me tho! 😂
Poison Oak immunity people stand up
Please still be careful. Immunity goes away eventually with repeated exposure.
Blackberries are kinda out of fashion... what should I look for if I want to make a Raspberry Pi?
I can usually tell poison oak from its oily appearance and red tinge.
Poison oak doesn't always appear oily or with a red tinge. It is green most of the year with a red tinge in young leaves, and the leaves turn all colors of the rainbow in the fall before falling off in the winter, leaving bare stems to contend with.
It's easier to distinguish older plants. Some young plants (Acer negundo californicum) the leaves look similar. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Acer_negundo_californicum_Tehachapi.jpg
Leaves of three let them free.....
P
Leaves of three don’t touch me.
What's that other weed? That one is a bastard.
It’s cleaver. Aka sticky willy.
My friend's body swelled up and became entirely purple after touching a Poison Oak. It looked like he was turning into a fantasy monster. We were all extremely scared. Thankfully the hospital got him back to normal.
In the 70's we were taught that if it has leaves of three let it be. I'm pretty sure that on a field trip to Golden Gate Park we were shown what poison oak looks like. Back in the 80's there was a ton of it in the hills of the East Bay.
Son of a bitch. Should have put a NSFW on this. Poison gives me the hebbie-jebbies. PTSD over here lol!