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post #1 of 23
Thread Starter 
I was pulling a green weed from a hedge (photo may take a minute to load, for some reason the computer wouldn't let me reduce the file size):


Shortly after pulling out a bunch of this, I developed a terrible rash. :

It has been a month, the rash is gone, the weed is back (thats why I can give you the above lovely photo). I sent a picture of my rash in to a website to recieve a free informational poster about poison ivy. When I recieved my poster, the poison ivy in the pictures doesn't look like this plant. Now I am confused. Does anyone know what this is???? I want to know what I am from.
post #2 of 23
I don't know, but I have the same weed, and I get the same rash unless I pull it with gloves. DH is fine, no rash. Hrm...
post #3 of 23
Remember that what the Westerners refer to Poisin Ivy is totaly differant than that the Easterners refer to.

In the east it is a vine, in the west its not.

Dont reconize that plant but then I am a westerner
post #4 of 23
Thread Starter 
Just for reference, this photo was taken in Kansas. Which is in the Midwest of the United States. Interesting that Throk in Canada has the same rash giving plant. What is it? Anyone?
post #5 of 23
It doesn't look like eastern ivy though, either .. and we have both the ground plants and vines here.

Does the vine ever flower? I'm thinking it kind of looks a little like bittersweet nightshade, although it doesn't totally fit the description most books have of them.. Also reminds me a little of philodendrons, which cause major icky rashes on me and oldest DS .. My other question is, is the hedge a juniper hedge? Juniper can cause itchies too .. and REALLY fast - in under an hour. Ivy/oak/sumac usually takes 12-24 hours to develop.
post #6 of 23
It looks kind of like climbing false buckwheat (Polygonum scandens), except the flowers don't look quite right, from what I can see of them in your picture. Maybe it's a related Polygonum, or maybe I just can't get a good idea from that picture what the flowers are like. It's definitely not poison ivy.

Here's a page with pictures of climbing false buckwheat:

post #7 of 23
I'm stumped...
post #8 of 23
Thread Starter 
It doesn't match any of the things suggested so far

DH helped me make a zoom up of the flowering part.


I don't know if it would help to see the rash this plant gave me. Warning: The rash is gross!!


I had a severe allergic reaction to this plant! It is a mystery what it could be at this point. I really hope to find out what it is. Maybe then I could have a homeopathic physician give me some kind of remedy to make me immune to it. I have heard that this can be done with poison ivy. The poison ivy remedy wouldn't work if this isn't poison ivy though, I think??
post #9 of 23
I'm pretty sure that it's a Morning Glory of some kind (wild). Are you sure that the barberry thorns didn't actually give you the rash (the purple shrub) and not the vine???
post #10 of 23
OK-- I spoke too soon, without looking at all your pics (including that nasty rash, ick!!--that's what my dh gets when he touches poison ivy)

The vine in the picture is definitely NOT poison ivy--in vine or shrub/groundcover form, poison ivy always has groups of 3 leaves joined together before the vine or stem.

It may be a morning glory of some kind (Ipomea) but the flower bud doesn't look right to me. Then I was considering whether it might be a hyacinth bean (Lablab purpureus) or scarlet runner bean (Phaseolus coccineus), but the flowers are white, right? That would rule both of those out--and the stems don't seem to have a lot of color...I'm stumped...

It doesn't look like nightshade to me, either. Regardless, I'm still wondering whether the barberry got you and not the vine...
post #11 of 23
Thread Starter 
The flowers are white and do not look the same as morning glory, but the vines look very much like morning glory. I think looking in the morning glory family is going to put me on the right track. Isn't morning glory toxic? Toxic to me anyway. What do you know about the barberry giving rashes? Tell me more.......

The day or two before I got the rash the only yard work I did was to pull the vine out of the shrub. I piled the vine into my right hand, and carried it into the house. The vine rubbed against my right arm right where the rash appeared the following day or so afterwards. I did touch the barberry, but not as much because of the thorns. I say I ask my dh to chainsaw both of these plants outta there!!! If it was the barberry we could rename the shrub the GWBush
post #12 of 23
Does it have a smell when you pull it off? I have a vine/weed that looks like that, that has an odd smell after I pull it off.

Almost a little milky/moist looking when it is pulled and sweetly foul smelling...maybe that is what causes the reaction?

Also, this particular vine/weed has just appeared and started growing like crazy in the last 2 weeks.
post #13 of 23
Geez, good luck. Nothing like that where I'm from. EEK
post #14 of 23
That weed is definitely some sort of ipomea. My husband and I both think it is a type of bindweed. The leaves, the vines everything just look like a bindweed.

But we were stumped about the severity of the rash.

Now here is a REALLY crazy theory.....is there poison ivy on the property??? Could an animal have walked through the PI and then around your garden? Could you have picked up some PI oils from an animal? I have heard of folks getting PI from petting thier dog after the dog has been in it. It just takes a VERY small amount of oil to cause a rash.
post #15 of 23
Honestly, the barberry 'rashes' that I've gotten are more like reaction to being pricked by the thorns (sort of like a juniper rash). It only occurs exactly where you've been stuck and you get a little red bump or pimple where each thorn touches the skin--nothing like the chemical type of rash you got.

Different people are allergic to different things, so you never know. I'd take a piece of the plant (with the flower if possible) to a cooperative extension agent and see what they come up with as far as ID--there are a lot of different Morning Glory vines around, so it may take some work to figure it out.

I have definitely heard of people getting poison ivy off their pets, so that could be part of it, if you have a pet (as Chanley mentioned). Good Luck, and let us know when you do figure it out...
post #16 of 23
Hey, I think this might be it - honeyvine milkweed.

Check out these pictures and descriptions:



Apparently it's often mistaken for a bindweed or morning glory, because the leaves are very similar, but honeyvine milkweed has opposite leaves (the leaves are in pairs, directly opposite each other), and the morning glories have alternate leaves.
post #17 of 23
Great job, Daf!!!

Cool to know. The flowers ARE atypical of a ipomea, should have sent up some flags. That is awesome!

Still does not explain the rash, but I am sticking to my contamination theory. Cause that is more than just a common ole garden irritant rash. Holy cow, blisters like that!
post #18 of 23
Thread Starter 
Daf, YES!!!! I think it is the honeyvine milkweed. It is a perfect match. That was some super plant sluething :

On the poison ivy/dog theory. We did have some poison ivy on the property, in the backyard. DH weedeated it to the ground over a week before the rash happened. We do have a miniature schnauser which is a small dog. I thought that it must have been the honeyvine milkweed since the rash started the day after pulling the weed, and it was right on my arm where the weed touched. The only way to know for sure would be to pull the weed again, if I did not have a reaction, then we would know it was poison ivy from the dog. :

I am going to avoid this honeyvine milkweed, and see if I can get a remedy to make me immune to it. Maybe I can do that for poison ivy at the same time. This way I will get an immunity to both. I hope to never get a rash like that again!!!!
post #19 of 23
Ahh...a milkweed.

It looks a lot like what i have growing. In my previous post I had asked if it secretes a milky substance when pulled. That is what happens when I pull these up. It might be the milky substance that you react to. That rash is horrible!
post #20 of 23
Thread Starter 

Since it has been over a month, I cannot remember if it excreted a milky substance or not. I don't remember any smell, other than the "I just pulled up some weeds" smell.

Does the substance in milkweed have a reputation for giving a severe rash?
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