Which of the following is Poison Ivy a close relative to?

If you ever had a rash from poison ivy or poison oak, then you were introduced to the Cashew family. Poison oak, poison ivy, and poison sumac were formerly included in the "Rhus genus", but are now separated into their own "Toxicodendron genus".

These two genera are the only members of the family found across the frost belt of North America. Most other members of the family live in the tropics, with a few representatives cultivated across the southern states, including the "Peruvian pepper tree" ("Schinus molle"), mango ("Mangifera"), and pistachio ("Pistacia").

The introduced hog plum or mombin ("Spondias") grows on disturbed sites in southern Florida. The native poison tree ("Metopium") is also in southern Florida, while the smoke tree ("Cotinus") grows as far north as Tennessee.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

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13 Comments

John W Shreve

We had lots of poison oak behind our summer home in Sonoma County and every year I'd take poison oak drops and was immune for the season.

Helga U. Williams

Hmm... I picked the right answer, but was surprised because I did not know this. Good question! 👍

buhlemann

Mango peel sometimes has enough urushiol (the oil in poison ivy/oak that causes the allergy) that peeling it carefully is essential. All of these reactions are allergies rather than "poisons" in the sense that it is a "learned" immunological response and not automatic, explaining why some people have no trouble with any of these plants/nuts/fruits for years and then suddenly do.

Dorene Valerio

I love cashews now what you’re saying they’re poisonous?

Irene Townsend

Kate Salinger, Sometimes I find I get one bonus question and that's it no more so I just move on to the next quiz. I guess it's just a bonus you should get extra points for.

Howard Groopman

Good question. I knew the cashew plant was poisonous.

Phil Kennelty

Again, the picture was not a picture of Poison Ivy. Poison Sumac, maybe.

Cindy Newman

Just read about this yesterday. I remember as a child my mother told me that raw cashews are poisonous. The cashews that are sold as “raw” have actually been steamed.

John McLardie

Could have used a more relevant part of the Wikipedia reference.

earlepg

Elaine GIbson, Upon reading the article and a couple of its references, it seems that the cashew family is quite variable in appearance. Pictures of the cashew leaves don't look the same as poison ivy or poison oak. It seems that in the case of cashews, it's the shells that cover the nuts that contain the oil compounds that can cause dermatitis similiar to poison ivy. Those shells are removed so that they don't come into contact with anyone.