Poison ivy, the plant (zaibatsu), 05/21/2019
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I've successfully learned to identify poison ivy[1]. Growing
up  running around  in the  forests  of Oregon,  I got  very
familiar with poison oak, so  I thought it'd be easy enough,
but  I found  that poison  ivy  is a  little bit  more of  a
chameleon. Sites that help with identification readily admit
that  it can  come in  many subtly  different forms[2],  and
while the old "leaves of three"  adage is useful, I prefer a
more solid footing.

Of  course, my  surety comes  at a  cost[3]. I  found a  few
plants that  I thought fit  the description along  the creek
behind my house, put on  some disposable gloves, and removed
them  in  preparation  for weed  whacking.  Unfortunately,  I
missed one or  two, and didn't see them until  the string on
my trimmer  turned them  to pulp. My  other mistake  was not
wearing  long  sleeves;  little  tiny  bits  of  the  plants
spattered on my arms.

Thankfully, the  rash isn't  terrible, and  I know  for sure
that my identification was correct.  Like the dangers of the
fire swamp[4], now  that I can recognize the  problem, I can
easily avoid it.

[1] gopher://gopherpedia.com:70/0/Toxicodendron radicans
[2] https://www.poison-ivy.org/identify-poison-ivy-poison-oak
[3] gopher://gopherpedia.com:70/0/Urushiol-induced contact dermatitis
[4] c'mon, it's a Princess Bride reference, no citation needed!