All of us have heard from childhood, leaflets or leaves of three, let them be, but which three leaves and where? Anytime you are near the edge of a woody area, where a brush area adjoins a lawn or cleared area, look for poison ivy. Poison ivy comes in different forms; therefore, this article is based on poison ivy as observed growing in BemidjiIf you see three leaves growing from a single stem, it may or may not be poison ivy. Look for three leaves evenly spaced out on a single stem, with the middle leaf on a longer stem than the other two.The ends of the leaves are pointed. If you see three leaves that are round on the end, you may be looking at white clover which is a harmless weed or wild flower depending on where it is growing.If there are three leaves on a stem and then another set leaves on the same stem underneath the first set, it may not be poison ivy. Wild raspberry is a lighter green in color but usually has three leaves at the top end of each stalk but with other sets of three or five leaves growing underneath them.Trillium has three leaves also, but the edges of those leaves are smooth. Poison ivy leaves are jagged in an irregular pattern. Wild strawberry leaves come in threes also and have jagged edges. But the wild strawberry has jagged edges that look like the evenly spaced teeth on a saw. The jagged edges on poison ivy are irregular. A jag here, a smooth inch or so and then another jag, but the pattern of jags is not even. Even a desired wild flower, the jack in the pulpit has three leaves, but the jags on the leaf edges are so small that the leaf appears to be almost smooth edged.Poison ivy leaves are frequently shiny, but not always. In this area they are usually a darker green than a lot of the other leaves growing close to the ground. The leaves may be small or as large as five inches across if the plant has been able to grow undisturbed. Whitish or actually very light green berries appear on the plant in July and the berries grow underneath the leaves. Wintergreen also has leaves that come in sets of three, but the wintergreen leaf is oval with a less defined point on the end.Why do we want to look so closely at three leaved plants before we touch them? Because poison ivy, the leaves, stems, berries and flowers all contain urushiol which causes irritating blisters on our skin. Not everyone gets a skin rash from touching poison ivy, but most people do. If you are removing poison ivy, wear gloves, cover all exposed skin, and plan to wash your clothing and gloves immediately afterwards. Wiping with an alcohol-wipe upon exposure is a good practice to avoid problems. Pull the plants out including as much of the roots as possible. Let the plants dry and then dispose of them in the garbage. Composting the plants does not destroy the urushiol and the compost may be dangerous to handle the following year. Burning poison ivy causes the smoke to carry the oil into the air and some people can acquire poison ivy blistered skin simply from being downwind from burning poison ivy.Poison ivy turns red in the fall or after it has been killed by application of a herbicide made for woody brush and broad leaved plants containing triclopyr. It should applied directly on the leaves and it may take several applications of herbicide in order to kill the plant completely. Check the University of Minnesota Extension web site for a fact sheet on poison ivy. 
