While looking for honeysuckle seeds for another member on my back fence, I found what I thought might be poison ivy vine growing on a south fence... the berries looked a lot like the pix I had seen, and I know there is poison ivy on the ground nearby (cause I keep brushing against it and getting nasty rashes... I get itchy just knowing I was out there 10 minutes ago, grrr).

But now I'm not so sure that's what this vine is. Although there is some taller poison ivy near the fence (that I've lopped and plan to Brush-B-Gone in the spring with no mercy), the vine that is all over the fence has leaves that do not follow the "leaves of 3" rule and are not turning red like the PI on the ground. The leaves on this vine are single and alternating and are a mottled green/brown/yellow, and many have fallen off (is that a clue right there?). Am I hoping in vain that all PI has leaves of 3? The vine at the base is very shredded bark-like but not hairy like I remember poison ivy/sumac was (the time I didn't know what I was pulling out of the tree and got alien-arms rash from it). The berries are bluish-gray, not tan-gray, and not in tight clusters but loose. I did not see any blooms earlier, but I wasn't back there much this summer (which explains the condition the area is currently in).

Anybody have any ideas? The leaves remind me of the cottonwood tree that was back there in shape and color, but not as large (in case that helps). Sorry no pix, I still live in the 35mm age.

Here are alot of picture of poison ivy and they all look different: Pictures and here

Sounds like it could be some variety of wild grape.

Thanks for the links, comfrey. Still not certain but am truly learning a lot from those sites! I am going to have to take a cutting and scan it, I think, and will do that in the AM. Didn't even think of that before.

:rolleyes:

Hiya, Margaret. I had thought there was wild grape back there at one time and there may be yet, but don't know. I'll scan some tomorrow (when I can see what I'm doing, with rubber gloves on, just in case).

Thanks!

Got a cutting scanned, I really don't think it's PI anymore; according to comfrey's link, PI is never serrated and this stuff appears to definitely be serrated. But now I really wonder what it is. Any guesses? The base of the vine has a peeling bark texture, not hairy at all. Not much in the way of tendrils, no suckers, it just knows how to climb.

that's definitely not poison ivy.