Is this poison oak?

It's hard to tell because the pics are coming up small.  There are several plants that follow the leaves of three rule.  The plants in your pics look a bit pointy at the tips, where poison oak is generally more rounded and lobed (at least here in N. California). The veining of the leaves isn't very oakey looking either, and the way it is growing makes me think it might not be PO, but it's always best to be cautious. Do you have poison sumac in your area? It could be that.

Around here, PO is one of the first things to turn red in the fall, and is actually quite pretty. It grows in shaded areas, and is also commonly seen vining up trees to great heights.

If you are ever in Sonoma county, CA, let me know, and I'll take you on a poison oak hike!

Hard to tell from the small photos. Were the stems woody and grayish or gray-brown with tiny hairlike clumps of climbing tendrils? Or did they seem to have small prickles on them like a bramble (blackberry) plant? One glance looked a little like poison ivy, but the next look it seemed like a bramble plant to me.

Here is a page of photo links that may help.

http://poisonivy.aesir.com/view/pictures.html#100

When I was a nature counselor at a kiddie daycamp, the first day of camp I'd take the kids on a nature walk, and show them what poison ivy looks like so they could avoid it the rest of the summer. I'd say over and over to never touch it or pick it.

It never failed that in every group, after all of warnings, at least one kid would pick a handful of it, come over to me and ask "Is this poison ivy?" Of course, when I said "yes," they'd scream and throw the stuff down and yell "Why didn't you tell me!???" Then we'd have a demonstration on how to wash after touching poison ivy.

That looks like a cascade trailing blackberry not poison oak and definitely not poison ivy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chickened 

That looks like a cascade trailing blackberry not poison oak and definitely not poison ivy.

That's the impression I got too. A bramble plant (blackberry... anything in the Rubus genus). The leaves have those deep ribs and get the yellowish color brambles tend to get when they grow in hot, dry areas. If there are prickles on the stems, it would confirm that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Godsgrl 

Thank you for all the replies. I didn't get a really good look at the plant, as I was trying to keep my dogs out of it. Next time I have an idea of what to look for though, thank you so much. Gardner Gal, what can I say, kids will be kids. LOL I'm not surprised at all that they still grabbed the plant even after you said not to touch it.

 

Wishing for wings, if I'm ever out your way, I'll give you a call. Thank you for the offer. Have a lot of the plant, do you? A few years ago, my daughter was playing with some leaves at church. She put them in her mouth, and apparently all over her face. The next day she was covered in poison oak rash. The first thing the dr said was, "Are you having trouble breathing?"  She wasn't, but what a nightmare.

 

Thanks everyone!

Yes we do have a lot of it. Wasn't sensitive to it as a kid, but now that I'm older I stay away. Get the worst rashes and scars from it (usually off the dogs or firewood). Lot of folks around here used to burn brush piles in the fall. Knew of someone hospitalized from breathing in the smoke. Nothing to fool around with if you're sensitive.

Take care! 

This is a good picture of poison oak.  I can spot it anywhere I go, because I need cortisone injections when I get it.  You can get it from the plant, from pets that go through it and you touch them, or from clothes when you do the wash. 

In late summer/early fall, the leaves turn red, like this:

Why does such a nasty plant have to be so pretty in the fall?