Poison ivy or something else? - Ask Extension
Hi, I don't have experience with poison ivy, although I read your article on it and how to identify it. I'm still not sure if what I have is poison iv...
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Poison ivy or something else? #872337
Asked June 09, 2024, 10:21 PM EDT
Hi, I don't have experience with poison ivy, although I read your article on it and how to identify it. I'm still not sure if what I have is poison ivy or not, and I'm hoping you can help. This plant is growing out of a crack in the middle of my cement patio. A plant identifier app came up with it being most likely one of a number of different raspberry plants and very unlikely poison ivy, but it seems to pass a lot of the tests in your article regarding stem location, etc., and I find it hard to believe it would actually be a raspberry plant. I'm hoping you can let me know if this is poison ivy, and if it is, how you would recommend regarding removing it. Thank you!
Baltimore County Maryland
Expert Response
Fortunately, this is not poison ivy. It appears to be a type of bramble (raspberry, blackberry, and their relatives), though we can't tell which kind from the foliage alone, especially at this young of an age. Some bramble species are native in Maryland, but not all.
Removal might be as simple as pulling it out or, if you can't get it out from between the pavers, then cutting it down. Be vigilant for regrowth and keep cutting off all new sprouts promptly, to starve its root system. How long it will keep regrowing is hard to guess, but it might be a few weeks or months, depending on how well-established its roots may (or may not) be by now. Eventually, if denied the ability to photosynthesize for long, it will keep using-up root energy stores without the ability to replenish them, and it will cease growing back.
Miri
Removal might be as simple as pulling it out or, if you can't get it out from between the pavers, then cutting it down. Be vigilant for regrowth and keep cutting off all new sprouts promptly, to starve its root system. How long it will keep regrowing is hard to guess, but it might be a few weeks or months, depending on how well-established its roots may (or may not) be by now. Eventually, if denied the ability to photosynthesize for long, it will keep using-up root energy stores without the ability to replenish them, and it will cease growing back.
Miri
