A few Sumac leaves are turning crimson orange. There is a wonderful grove of them on Bartlett at the QEW where I can easily take pictures. Well, there are lots of places in Niagara where one can capture the fiery colours that say Autumn. I've become aware of another fiery crimson plant over the years - Poison Ivy. You don't notice it in the summer in the grassy banks along the roadsides. But come Autumn and there they are - clear as anything.
The expression to remember is: Leaves of three? Let them be! There seem to be lots of leaves of three to me, so what else would we consider?
There are more rhyming expressions to help with the identification of poison ivy:
"Longer middle stem; stay away from them." -- the middle leaflet has a long stem while the two side leaflets attach almost directly.
"Ragged rope, don't be a dope!" Poison ivy vines on trees have a furry, "raggy" or ragged appearance.
"Berries white, run in fright" and "Berries white, danger in sight."
"Red leaflets in the spring, it's a dangerous thing." -- new leaflets sometimes are red in the spring. Later, in the summer, the leaflets are green -- while in autumn they can be reddish-orange.
"Side leaflets like mittens, will itch like the dickens." This refers to the shape of some poison ivy leaves, where each of the two side leaflets has a notch that makes the leaflet look like a mitten with a "thumb." (Caution:all parts of the plant can cause itching, not just these leaves.)
Here's what's coming in the next few weeks in Sumacs.
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