Itchy

Male Poison Ivy flowers

Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) is in bloom right now. The plants are dioecious, meaning that each plant is either male or female. All the plants get flowers, male or female flowers. Blooms that looks quite similar, a greenish-yellow color with a width of less than 1/2 inch. Male flowers have prominent stamens covered in brilliant yellow pollen.

Many buds with a few open Poison Ivy blooms

Female flowers, with a prominent pistil, and only small underdeveloped stamens without the striking yellow color. The female blooms develop white drupes which are an important and popular winter food for many birds.

Poison Ivy buds, yet to become flowers

I’ve been fortunate to have a lush patch of Poison Ivy growing in an ancient oak tree that brings in a wonderful assortment of woodpeckers, including Pileated Woodpeckers and Northern Flickers. Poison Ivy makes the birder in me totally happy.

Published by

Brenda Clements Jones

Brenda is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, a Habitat Defender for Shenandoah National Park, and a devoted fan of Mother Nature. She lives in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Shenandoah National Park, and hikes up to the higher elevations of her mountain often to see what nature is up to. Her constant hiking companion is a camera that captures nature as it unfolds through the seasons. It’s her goal to share the natural world around her through her photographs.