Shiny oily green leaves of three, reddish when new. I’ve seen them all:
- shaggy vines crawling 100 feet up tree trunks
- smooth and twiggy growing tall and sparse
- heavy duty woody bushy heavily laden with powdery white-blue fruit berry stalks
Almost amorphous. But always the same with the three leaves, green with red tints. Just like the difference in mosquitoes in Minnesota (murderous vampires by the trillions) and here in the southern USA (tiny and rare), just so is the poison ivy in Minnesota virulent (having put me in the hospital) compared to a few spots of a mere rash here in the southern USA. The above is what’s in at the back of the church in Robbinsville: be careful! Below is near the hermitage:
But what caught my eye here was a flower for the Immaculate Conception. I didn’t see the poison ivy on the tall and lanky vine to the right of the picture until I was about to crop that part of the picture out.
On the one hand, I’m happy that I have greater situational awareness for flowers for the Immaculate Conception than I do for poison ivy, but I don’t think our Lady would be disappointed if I were to increase situational awareness for leaves of three. I’ve put some pretty wild stuff in bouquets for the Immaculate Conception, but this is one thing I would not include. I think it’s the first thing ever not to include. Just. No. In fact, I don’t think I would pick the flowers above either, for the reason that, in the wind, they would blow over and touch the poison ivy oily leaves. So… just… no.
ARISE! LET US BE GOING! 
My brother is immune to poison ivy. Lucky dog! when we were children, He could pull the vines down with impunity. He could even inhale the smoke from the burning vines with no ill effects. But our father forbade him from burning the vines, since the smoke affected everyone else.
And there’s that helpful old saying about poison ivy, to remind us of its toxicity, “leaflets three, let it be!”