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How Can I Prevent Them?

The best way to deal with this poisonous threesome is to learn to recognize the plants, then stay out of reach. Poison ivy — with its shiny, sometimes reddish, yellow- or orange-colored, leaves — shares with poison oak a characteristic three-leaf pattern. Poison sumac has paired, pointed leaves, sometimes with greenish-white berries. Each leaf has seven to 13 leaflets.

If you suspect contact with a poison plant, wash immediately and thoroughly with soap and water — your skin, clothes, shoes, tools — anything that might have picked up the plant's toxic resin. If you're going into poison-plant country, try one of the barrier lotions available from outdoor suppliers. The old folk tale about eating poison ivy leaves to make yourself immune is just that — a myth. Never eat the leaves or berries of wild plants, many of which can cause dangerous reactions.