Is poison ivy found in Colorado? Gain essential insights into its local presence and how to confidently navigate the state's natural spaces. The most common poison ivy species in Colorado is Toxicodendron rydbergii, also known as western poison ivy. Although this species is the most common in Colorado, it's not abundant.
Still, always look out for a creeping vine or shrub with green leaves growing in threes. One place you can find this poisonous plant in Colorado is Boulder County. In Colorado? I grew up in the Midwest.
So, when I moved to Colorado, I was surprised to see fence rows without poison ivy. In fact, I was relieved because I'm incredibly allergic to it. While it's not prevalent in Colorado, it's alive and well.
The best way to deal with its toxic leaves is to know how to avoid it, and if you get it, to know how to treat it. 6. Poison Ivy, Oak, and Sumac Anyone who was a Cub Scout should know to avoid these (leaves of three, let it be).
Colorado has all three, which are often hard to recognize because they tend to be interspersed among other types of plants. Brush against it and the skin gets itchy, red and blistered. Fifteen species of poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac are recognized in the New World and eastern Asia, of which five occur naturally in North America.
Western poison ivy (T. rydbergii) is a low-growing shrub (rather than a vine, like its eastern relative, T. radicans) that occurs widely across the western states, Great Plains, and northeast.
Most of the year, poison ivy grows in, "mere patches of plain green leaves-all too easy to step into inadvertently." Poison ivy berries appear in late summer or early fall. Poison oak is primarily a Pacific Coastal pest, and eastern poison ivy and poison sumac only exist in the eastern and central U.S. Poison sumac is not related to ornamental sumac shrubs (Rhus sp).
It grows further north and at higher elevations than any other poison ivy. In New Mexico and Colorado, it grows at 8500 feet. The western poison ivy may be found from stream side to subalpine communities, and it readily invades disturbed sites such as road sides, fence rows and railroads.
Colorado Plants DatabasePOISON IVY. The eastern Poison Ivy, Toxicodendron radicans, commonly has a main stem of several inches in diameter and climbs high into trees as a hairy vine. In the dry Southwest, Poison Ivy is nowhere near as common as it is in the East, but it is just as toxic.