Farm1 wrote:
"Jonno" wrote in message

Ms Leebee wrote:


We moved into a house that has had its fencelines hacked by

invasive, crazy,

overgrown ivy.


Re Ivy.
Be very careful with this stuff.
You will get itchiness after exposure to it, and it seems that

exposure

is cumulative and you wonder why you are itching.

See these websites regarding this
It appears that Ivy's are related to the poisom Ivy from America and
were grown here at one point....... They looked so nice......


Huh? How is it related? Poison ivy is called "toxicodendron
radicans" and ivy is called "hedera helix".
Your post made me quite curious so I went off to do a bit of google
hunt.
Poison ivy is from the Anacardiaceae family which is the Sumac family
whilst ivy is from the Araliaceae family.

I can't see any or find connection between the two families.

I found this site with lots of pics of poison ivy and I have to say
that I've be very surprised if any gardener in Aus would make a
mistake between what is an ivy and what is a poison ivy:
http://poisonivy.aesir.com/view/picqna.html
Poison ivy looks nothing like a "normal" ivy.


Unknown itchiness
http://www.healthfirst.net.au/content/view/1121/42/


The abovementioned site says that poison ivy isn't prevalent in Aus
(not that it doesn't occur but that it isn't prevalent).


Contact allergies with plants local Aussie site
http://www.allergycapital.com.au/Pages/contactderm.html


The abovementioned site doesn't even mention poison ivy. It's just
about allergies (but boy oh boy are there some nasty reaction there).


Revenge of the plants
http://ncnatural.com/wildflwr/obnxious.html


The pics on this site clearly show that poison ivy is nothing like
normal old domestic ivy.


Anyway enough of the negative stuff. It pays to get rid of it

whatever

it is. My neighbour suffered badly and I didnt realise why I was

always

itchy.
Turns out I was in contact with it and didnt realise it, and it

turns

itchy after exposure, a few days mostly, which leaves you puzzled...
Then when someone who really reacts to the stuff gets it, the penny
drops....


An allergic reaction is certainly possible but what were you really
exposed to? Poison ivy or ivy?


Thats the problem, I reckon it was "hedera helix" Doctors say "hedera
helix" is also a problem. Still after the reaction I'm not going near
any of the stuff. Still similar reactions... After a while, worse when
sweating...
Its handy to file the info though...