Leaves of three...let it be

I've noticed an alarming amount of Poison Ivy around the city from Central Park through Jamaica Bay and Nickerson Beach. I took this photo at the wildlife refuge across the road from Nickerson where the poison ivy was all over the place.

The compound leaves of poison ivy consist of three pointed leaflets; the middle leaflet has a much longer stalk than the two side ones. The leaflet edges can be smooth or toothed but are rarely lobed. The leaves vary greatly in size. They are reddish when they emerge in the spring, turn green during the summer, and become various shades of yellow, orange or red in the autumn.

They plant bears fruit in the form of berries which birds love. They spread the seeds as the move around.

For treatment information visit this site: http://www.poison-ivy.org/