Comments on: Mother Nature on the Nature Trail http://quichemoraine.com/2009/04/mother-nature-on-the-nature-trail/ We don't need no stinking subtitle Wed, 08 Jun 2011 05:44:29 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Mike Haubrich http://quichemoraine.com/2009/04/mother-nature-on-the-nature-trail/#comment-525 Mike Haubrich Thu, 09 Apr 2009 12:42:57 +0000 http://quichemoraine.com/?p=633#comment-525 Keep on truckin' ya self! Did the old Indians who did tricks have household ammonia? Keep on truckin’ ya self! Did the old Indians who did tricks have household ammonia?

]]> By: Blind Squirrel FCD http://quichemoraine.com/2009/04/mother-nature-on-the-nature-trail/#comment-483 Blind Squirrel FCD Wed, 08 Apr 2009 09:52:15 +0000 http://quichemoraine.com/?p=633#comment-483 I had a brush with PI while enjoying a little 'nature' myself, except I didn't realize what the plant was until I saw the familiar three leaves silhouetted against the evening sky. I was <b>lying</b> in the stuff. But I didn't develop a rash because of an old Indian trick I learned from a Mother Earth article. Household ammonia, diluted ten to one. It turns out that only the acidic form of urusiol is allergenic. You don't even have to wash the resin off, just get it wet with the solution. You probably should not rub any unknown plant on your body. If you ever saw the list of plants that, one time or another, have given someone contact dermatitis, you wouldn't go outdoors. Surprised to see a picture of a male plant, with all the bad press they get. Keep on trucking. BS I had a brush with PI while enjoying a little ‘nature’ myself, except I didn’t realize what the plant was until I saw the familiar three leaves silhouetted against the evening sky. I was lying in the stuff. But I didn’t develop a rash because of an old Indian trick I learned from a Mother Earth article. Household ammonia, diluted ten to one. It turns out that only the acidic form of urusiol is allergenic. You don’t even have to wash the resin off, just get it wet with the solution.
You probably should not rub any unknown plant on your body. If you ever saw the list of plants that, one time or another, have given someone contact dermatitis, you wouldn’t go outdoors.
Surprised to see a picture of a male plant, with all the bad press they get.
Keep on trucking.
BS

]]> By: Bryan Stack http://quichemoraine.com/2009/04/mother-nature-on-the-nature-trail/#comment-464 Bryan Stack Tue, 07 Apr 2009 23:44:09 +0000 http://quichemoraine.com/?p=633#comment-464 That's "urushiol" from the Japanese word for lacquer, urushi. Besides poison ivy, oak and suamc, sensitized people can get the same kind of rash from handling East Asian lacquered items. Mango rinds and cashew shells (removed before shipping, so we never see them) also contain urushiol. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urushiol http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urushiol-induced_contact_dermatitis That’s “urushiol” from the Japanese word for lacquer, urushi. Besides poison ivy, oak and suamc, sensitized people can get the same kind of rash from handling East Asian lacquered items. Mango rinds and cashew shells (removed before shipping, so we never see them) also contain urushiol.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urushiol
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urushiol-induced_contact_dermatitis

]]> By: Greg Laden http://quichemoraine.com/2009/04/mother-nature-on-the-nature-trail/#comment-447 Greg Laden Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:12:04 +0000 http://quichemoraine.com/?p=633#comment-447 <em>I’d love to hear more from Greg about the five different poisonous substances.</em> Ed, I'm not an expert on this, but I can tell you that "urshuriol" is present in PI and other plants in numerous forms that have very different reactivities and that different individuals have different reactions to them. Urushiol per se is really a class of compounds, and while most are irritating, only some are as irritating to humans as PI (Which, by the way is not equally irritating to all mammals. It is very species specific. My hypothesis is that primates evolved in a region where the Anacardiaceae were not common. Anacardiaceae is the plant family that invented this wonderful substance, and which are mainly native to Asia and South America, but not Africa.) By the way, the best soap to wash PI and also the clothing exposed is said to be Fels Naptha. I’d love to hear more from Greg about the five different poisonous substances.

Ed, I’m not an expert on this, but I can tell you that “urshuriol” is present in PI and other plants in numerous forms that have very different reactivities and that different individuals have different reactions to them. Urushiol per se is really a class of compounds, and while most are irritating, only some are as irritating to humans as PI (Which, by the way is not equally irritating to all mammals. It is very species specific. My hypothesis is that primates evolved in a region where the Anacardiaceae were not common. Anacardiaceae is the plant family that invented this wonderful substance, and which are mainly native to Asia and South America, but not Africa.)

By the way, the best soap to wash PI and also the clothing exposed is said to be Fels Naptha.

]]> By: Mike Haubrich http://quichemoraine.com/2009/04/mother-nature-on-the-nature-trail/#comment-430 Mike Haubrich Tue, 07 Apr 2009 03:51:18 +0000 http://quichemoraine.com/?p=633#comment-430 I didn't intentionally impair my judgment around poisonous plants. I have had several run-ins with urshuriol, and I may have misidentified the plant in this case. It's hard to say now, because thirty years ago I dropped the leaves very quickly. I didn’t intentionally impair my judgment around poisonous plants. I have had several run-ins with urshuriol, and I may have misidentified the plant in this case. It’s hard to say now, because thirty years ago I dropped the leaves very quickly.

]]> By: Mike Haubrich http://quichemoraine.com/2009/04/mother-nature-on-the-nature-trail/#comment-429 Mike Haubrich Tue, 07 Apr 2009 03:48:03 +0000 http://quichemoraine.com/?p=633#comment-429 Thanks, Larry. I have many stories that my children shouldn't hear. Thanks, Larry. I have many stories that my children shouldn’t hear.

]]> By: Ed Darrell http://quichemoraine.com/2009/04/mother-nature-on-the-nature-trail/#comment-425 Ed Darrell Tue, 07 Apr 2009 01:47:54 +0000 http://quichemoraine.com/?p=633#comment-425 I'd love to hear more from Greg about the five different poisonous substances. The key poison is an oil, urshuriol. No one ever reacts at first exposure, and some people can manage to keep it out of their system for several exposures with some savvy or happily coincidental tricks. Washing it off works well. Oxidizing, or reacting it, also works. After poison ivy patrols at camps, I used to use a quarter cup of chlorine bleach in a pint of water, and shower using that as the cleanser. Be sure to get any oil out from under your nails. Urshuriol is active until it's all reacted. Burning generally won't react all of it, and it will volatilize into the smoke. If you breathe in the smoke, you get a serum case of poison ivy that will make you wish you were dead. Steroids, usually injected, are usually required to tame those cases. Maybe worse than breathing it in is to take a tea made from the leaves, as Euell Gibbons recommended in one of his books. It sounded silly, and he did specify young shoots in the spring, but I well recall watching a fellow brought into an emergency room, a mass of oozing poison ivy sores; the physicians said it hadn't got to his eyelids yet, but they were concerned about it getting to his lungs. I understand the guy survived. And for heaven's sake, don't impair your judgment around poisonous plants! I’d love to hear more from Greg about the five different poisonous substances.

The key poison is an oil, urshuriol. No one ever reacts at first exposure, and some people can manage to keep it out of their system for several exposures with some savvy or happily coincidental tricks. Washing it off works well. Oxidizing, or reacting it, also works. After poison ivy patrols at camps, I used to use a quarter cup of chlorine bleach in a pint of water, and shower using that as the cleanser. Be sure to get any oil out from under your nails.

Urshuriol is active until it’s all reacted. Burning generally won’t react all of it, and it will volatilize into the smoke. If you breathe in the smoke, you get a serum case of poison ivy that will make you wish you were dead. Steroids, usually injected, are usually required to tame those cases.

Maybe worse than breathing it in is to take a tea made from the leaves, as Euell Gibbons recommended in one of his books. It sounded silly, and he did specify young shoots in the spring, but I well recall watching a fellow brought into an emergency room, a mass of oozing poison ivy sores; the physicians said it hadn’t got to his eyelids yet, but they were concerned about it getting to his lungs. I understand the guy survived.

And for heaven’s sake, don’t impair your judgment around poisonous plants!

]]> By: Mike Haubrich http://quichemoraine.com/2009/04/mother-nature-on-the-nature-trail/#comment-417 Mike Haubrich Mon, 06 Apr 2009 22:01:20 +0000 http://quichemoraine.com/?p=633#comment-417 Good advice for any Catholic School seniors! Good advice for any Catholic School seniors!

]]> By: Larry Ayers http://quichemoraine.com/2009/04/mother-nature-on-the-nature-trail/#comment-416 Larry Ayers Mon, 06 Apr 2009 21:43:34 +0000 http://quichemoraine.com/?p=633#comment-416 Great story, Mike! I have a few similar stories from that era... Great story, Mike! I have a few similar stories from that era…

]]> By: Jackal http://quichemoraine.com/2009/04/mother-nature-on-the-nature-trail/#comment-415 Jackal Mon, 06 Apr 2009 21:28:36 +0000 http://quichemoraine.com/?p=633#comment-415 It turns out that even if your skin is immune to the effects of poison ivy, your lung tissue might not be. So if you're trying to get rid of that pile of poison ivy you ripped out of your yard, burning may not be the best option. It turns out that even if your skin is immune to the effects of poison ivy, your lung tissue might not be. So if you’re trying to get rid of that pile of poison ivy you ripped out of your yard, burning may not be the best option.

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