Is Virginia creeper poisonous? How to tell it from poison ivy.

Which parts of Virginia creeper are poisonous

Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) is a fast-growing climbing vine native to eastern and central North America and widely planted on walls and fences elsewhere for its red autumn colour. Its risks come from two different substances, and they affect people in different ways.

• Berries: the small purplish-black berries that ripen in late summer and autumn contain oxalic acid. Plant references list them as the poisonous part, with nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhoea after eating them, and reports of kidney damage and deaths in people. Birds eat them without harm, which is why the vine spreads so readily.
• Sap: the sap in the leaves and stems contains raphides, microscopic needle-shaped crystals of calcium oxalate. They can puncture the skin and cause redness, itching, or blisters in sensitive people, usually milder than a poison ivy rash.
• Leaves and vine: they do not contain urushiol, so brushing past the plant does not cause the allergic rash that poison ivy is known for. Most gardeners can handle it with ordinary gloves.

For pets, the berries are the main concern for the same reason. Keep dogs from chewing fallen clusters, and if a child or animal has eaten berries, call a poison control centre or a veterinarian rather than waiting for symptoms.

Virginia creeper vs poison ivy at a glance

Count the leaflets first

Each leaf on these vines is compound, which means one leaf stalk carries several separate leaflets. Find where a leaf stalk joins the main vine and count what grows from the end of that stalk. Five leaflets radiating from one point like the fingers of a hand is the classic Virginia creeper leaf, and the species name quinquefolia means five leaves.

Poison ivy follows the rhyme leaves of three, let it be. Its three leaflets are not fanned out evenly: the two side leaflets sit close to the stalk, while the middle leaflet stands on its own longer stalk. Be careful with young Virginia creeper, which can carry leaves of three leaflets on new shoots. In that case look at the rest of the vine, where most leaves will have five, and use the checks below.

Check the vine, the edges, and the berries

1. Look at how the vine holds on. Virginia creeper climbs with branched tendrils that end in tiny sticky discs pressed flat against bark or brick. An old poison ivy vine on a tree is covered in dense, brown, hairy aerial roots, which gave rise to the warning hairy vine, no friend of mine.
2. Run your eye along a leaflet edge. Virginia creeper leaflets are toothed evenly all the way round. Poison ivy leaflets are smooth-edged or carry only a few irregular teeth, and they are often glossy.
3. Check the berries in autumn. Virginia creeper has dark blue to black berries on bright red stalks. Poison ivy has clusters of small greyish-white berries, which is behind the rhyme berries white, danger in sight.
4. Watch the autumn colour. Both vines turn red, so colour alone proves nothing. Use it only to spot the vines, then confirm with leaflets, tendrils, and berries.

The two vines often grow together, sometimes up the same tree trunk. Finding one Virginia creeper leaf does not mean the whole tangle is safe, so check each stem you plan to touch.

Does poison ivy have 5 leaves?

No. Poison ivy leaves always have three leaflets, so a five-leaf poison ivy does not exist. A plant with 5 leaves per stem growing as a vine is far more likely to be Virginia creeper. People sometimes count wrong because two neighbouring leaves overlap, or because one of poison ivy's side leaflets is deeply lobed and looks like two. Follow each leaflet back to the point where it attaches to be sure.

Other plants confuse the count too. Boxelder maple seedlings can have three leaflets but grow them in opposite pairs on the stem, while poison ivy leaves alternate. Raspberry and blackberry canes have three leaflets as well, but their stems carry prickles, which poison ivy never has.

What to do after contact or swallowing

• After touching poison ivy: wash the skin with soap and plenty of cool water as soon as you can, and clean nails, tools, gloves, and pet fur, which can carry urushiol for a long time. Do not burn the plant, because smoke carrying urushiol can harm the lungs.
• After Virginia creeper sap irritation: rinse the area well. The reaction is usually mild and short, but see a doctor if blisters spread or the eyes are involved.
• After eating berries: call your local poison control centre or emergency number straight away, and keep a sample of the plant to show. For a pet, call your veterinarian or an animal poison line.

Read the plant safety guide

Living with Virginia creeper in the garden

Virginia creeper is a useful plant despite its berries. It covers walls and fences quickly, its autumn colour is striking, and its fruit feeds birds through the winter. If you keep it, plant it where small children do not play, pull up seedlings that birds spread to lawns and beds, and wear gloves and long sleeves when pruning if your skin reacts to the sap.

Removing poison ivy is a different job. Cover your skin fully, bag the plant rather than composting or burning it, and wash everything that touched it. If you are not sure which vine you have, photograph a whole leaf, the vine against its support, and any berries, then compare them with the checks in this guide.

Read the plant photo guide