Frightening Plants

Blackberries in Oregon are delicious, free and plentiful. In August I carry a couple of small buckets in my car at all times, just in case I come across a blackberry patch. Some of my friends carry garden clippers, because it's easier and less wounding to clip the thorny vines away before reaching for the berries. However, there is danger, in addition to the spikes on the branches.. poison oak lurks among the blackberry brambles.

About 24 hours after contact with the toxic oil from the poison oak plant, my skin develops large yellow fluid-filled blisters. The itchiness is unbearable. The torment lasts for 2 - 3 weeks. I have to take prednisone to quiet the allergic reaction, which can continue up to a month as my body inflames, trying to fight the toxins in my system. Everything reacts, I become irritable and itchy skin becomes tender and painful, sending pain down to the very roots of the nerves.

One time at age 17, while hiking with friends, I came into direct contact with so much poison oak that my left arm swelled into a blimp shape. Trails of yellow blisters evidenced the track the branch had left as it brushed my arm. I still have the scar, a long white line, where the blisters broke. That was before I knew what the plant looked like.

"Leaflets three, let it be." But lots of plants have leaves of three.But I know what poison oak looks like. The shiny oil makes the leaves glisten, especially in spring and summer. They turn vibrant red in autumn. People have said that you can't get poison oak in winter. They are wrong. All parts of the plant carry the toxic oil.

I can't even pet animals that live in areas where there is poison oak. I can't live in the woods or in the country, because I love cats. They bring the oil home on their fur. I've had friends who were offended when I wouldn't pet their dog because they live near open fields where poison oak grows. I love animals and I'd love more than anything to pet them and play with them. But people just don't understand what this plant does to me.

Once when we had a French girl staying with us for the summer and we went out to pick blackberries, I warned her about this plant that could make you break out in a horrible rash. She didn't believe me. She thought I was playing a trick on her. I guess they don't have poison oak or ivy in France.

Thankfully there is Fels Naptha bar soap. It's a detergent, which is necessary to break down the oil from the plant. Other products, like Technu, have been developed, but in my experience, Fels Naptha works much better, and it's far cheaper. I'm never without it on a camping trip. My friends' father was a volunteer fire fighter, and that's what they always washed with after coming back from fighting fires. It will dilute the oil, if used within two hours of exposure. Then, of course, you must also wash all of your clothes immediately. The oil stays potent for a long time, I'm not sure how long. But that's why it can seem like you can start healing, only to have it get worse again. Since it takes 24-48 hours for the allergic reaction to begin, it's sometimes hard to pinpoint the source of the contaminant.

I took pictures on my walk yesterday, laughing at myself for the fear reaction I was having. I knew I didn't touch it. And it can't jump out an attack. Or can it? When I got home I showered with Fels Naptha.

The next morning I woke up with my heel itching intensely. Looking down, I saw the distictive yellow fluid-filled blister. Impossible! I had been wearing shoes and socks! But I wore sandals at other times.. so apparently sometime in the previous day or two, I had come into contact with a tiny glossy leaflet three, lurking somewhere in the grass where I had been walking...