How to avoid these 3 poisonous plants

Learn to recognize and avoid these toxic specimens and how to deal with the situation if you, your pet or your child does come into contact with them.

Hundreds of plants have toxic parts, which may be fruits, flowers, foliage or roots. While some are infamous noxious weeds, like poison ivy, many others—from azaleas to tomatoes—are common ornamental and food plants.

Poison ivy is one of the most common toxic plants east of the Rockies.

• It's recognized by its clusters of three leaflets that turn red in fall.
• The creeping vine bears small white flowers in spring and white, waxy berries through winter.
• A resin in the sap, called urushiol, causes an itchy rash on contact with any part of the plant. Even the smoke from burning the plants is an irritant.

Pacific poison oak is the western cousin of poison ivy.

• It also contains urushiol, has three toothed leaves, and causes skin irritation.
• This pest grows as a vine or, more commonly, as a shrub.

Poison sumac, which grows in eastern and midwestern regions, can cause severe skin inflammation on contact.

• Usually found in freshwater swamps, the shrub has smooth, elliptical, pointy-tipped leaves that grow in clusters of up to 13.

It's also important to know what to do if you—or your pet—come into contact with a poisonous plant.

• There's no cure for the inflammationonce you've come in contact with toxic plants.
• Try to limit an outbreak by washing your skin immediately after exposure with plenty of soap and hot water. Lather again, leaving a thick soap paste on your skin for five minutes, then rinse thoroughly.
• Treat any blisters with calamine or hydrocortisone, and try not to scratch.
• If you can't wash up immediately, look for wild impatiens, commonly called jewelweed, crush the leaves, and rub them on the area that you think touched poison ivy. Leaves of plantain, another common weed, may soothe the rash.

Pets can also develop an allergic skin reaction, so don't let them romp near toxic plants.

• If they've been exposed, bathe them with soap and water.
• Wear rubber gloves, because even if the pup doesn't develop a rash, you might.

Don't try to pull up toxic plants—even with your skin protected.

• If you find a small patch, clip plants back to the ground with longhandled loppers, then smother the site with newspapers or black plastic.
• For large areas, eradicate with a systemic herbicide, such as glyphosate.
• Repeat applications for more than one season are often necessary.