Question : While hiking in the woods, I got a rash on my bare legs. What wild plants in the Brainerd lakes area cause rashes? Answer : Plants such as nettles and wild parsnip can cause a rash, but it’s most likely poison ivy, especially if the rash was severe. Minnesota has two varieties of poison ivy, common poison ivy (toxicodendron radicans), which may form a vine, and western poison ivy (toxicodendron rydbergii), which will not.
Both are widespread in Minnesota. The easiest way to identify poison ivy is by its leaves: “leaves of three, let it be.” Most leaflets are oval shaped with a pointed tip, a few inches in length, with the middle leaflet having a longer stem, as the picture shows.
The leaves can be notched or smooth. Often the leaves look droopy and waxy, but you can’t rely on this feature. In the fall, the leaves turn a beautiful yellow or dark red.
In its vine form, poison ivy can look like other plants, such as Virginia creeper, which has five leaves, not three. Poison ivy has an oily resin called urushiol, which causes severe rashes. Two other common plants in the United States also have urushiol — poison sumac and poison oak — but you won’t find them in our area.
Wild parsnip, an invasive plant that contains compounds that cause blistering when exposed to sunlight, is spreading in Minnesota. According to the app iNaturalist, wild parsnip has been found to the north of us, near Walker, and to the south, near St. Cloud, but not yet in Crow Wing Coun.
