Know Your Poison Plants to Avoid Painful Skin Rashes

In Vermont, we love the outdoors, but poisonous plants like poison parsnip, poison sumac and poison ivy can sometimes spoil our time outside.

*Poison Parsnip image courtesy of Community Health. Poison Ivy & Poison Sumac Images: USDA, NRCS. 2024. PLANTS Database (https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/, 07/18/2024). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC 27401-4901 USA*

The best way to protect yourself and your family from poisonous plants is to know what those plants are to identify them at their various stages of growth.

As a provider at Community Health, we treat the itchy, often painful rashes associated with exposure to poisonous plants that grow wild alongside roads and unmaintained areas in Vermont. A rash occurs when the oils or sap of the plant come in contact with your skin. The toxins from these plants can cause itchy rashes and painful boils. The first line of treatment is using various over-the-counter medications, a non-drowsy antihistamine, and topical cortisone.

Dress protectively: If you're going to be in an area where these poisonous plants grow, the best way to prevent these rashes is to wear lightweight, light color, long sleeves, long pants, and gloves. Wearing these clothes can be a barrier from coming into direct contact with the poisonous plants. But remember, you must wash all your clothing appropriately (including shoes) because you can continue to spread those oils from those clothes.

Poison Parsnip: Wild or poison parsnip is an invasive weed that produces yellow flowers that look like Queen Anne's Lace. It can grow up to 4 feet tall and is found in Vermont and New York State as well as most states in the U.S. It is commonly found growing along roadsides, in pastures, abandoned fields, paths, and utility rights-of-way.

If you come in contact with wild parsnip sap, you should immediately cover the exposed skin to prevent a reaction to sunlight. Wild parsnip produces a sap, or plant juice, that can cause burns to the skin in the presence of sunlight. In some cases, the burns are like second-degree sunburns that can cause painful rashes and raised blisters. If you get some of the sap on your skin, wash your skin thoroughly with soap and water as soon as possible. Then, protect your exposed skin from sunlight for at least 48 hours. If you experience a skin reaction, call your healthcare provider.

Poison Ivy: The old saying “Leaves of three, let it be!” is a truly helpful reminder for identifying poison ivy. Eastern poison ivy is typically a hairy, ropelike vine with three shiny green leaves budding from one small stem. The leaves may be red in the fall. It may have yellow or green flowers and white to green-yellow or amber berries.

A cautionary note – never burn poison ivy! The smoke contains particles that can cause serious injury to the eyes, skin, and respiratory tract.

Poison Sumac: Poison sumac is a woody shrub that has stems with 7-13 leaves arranged in pairs. It may have glossy, pale yellow, light green, or cream-colored berries that sag downward on its branches. (The non-poisonous sumac has red berries.) Also, each stem on the poison sumac plant has a cluster of leaflets with smooth edges.

During the fall, these leaves turn bright red. You'll find poison sumac in swampy areas or deep in the woods.

Reactions to Poison Ivy and Poison Sumac: An oil called urushiol is what causes a rash. The oil is present in all parts of the poison ivy and sumac plants, including the leaves, stems, flowers, berries, and roots. Even indirect contact with urushiol can also cause the rash. This may happen when you touch clothing, a pet who has it on their fur, gardening tools, or other objects that have come in contact with the plant.

Treatments usually involve self-care methods at home, and the rash typically goes away on its own in two to three weeks.

It's typical for the rash to get a little worse in the first two to three days. People tend to think that it's spreading, but really what's happening is it's just developing. If your arm received a huge contact and slightly less on your leg, the arm would develop first because it had a bigger exposure. The leg rash would come out later because it got a smaller dose.

When to Seek Medical Attention: A good time to seek medical treatment is if a large percentage of your body is affected. We can move from over-the-counter treatment to more prescription treatment depending on the severity of the reaction. Some people have more minor reactions, and some people react very strongly.

For poisonous plants, there isn't any protective treatment to apply to the skin. It's not like with ticks or mosquitoes where you can use a spray or lotion. Covering exposed skin is the best protection.

Learn which of these poisonous plants are in your area and where you walk so you can be prepared.