You've been waiting all year for autumn's brilliant colors to arrive and you're out on a walk just itching to pick up a beautiful red leaf. But how do you know it won't leave you scratching? Poison ...

Q. Can a person get poison ivy once the leaves are gone in the fall? Is it true that Virginia creeper vines can cause the same itching symptoms? Also, are poison oak and poison ivy the same thing? A.

I received strong criticism from a reader who was not happy with my comment in a column that Virginia creeper is harmless. She declared that it would cause a horrible rash just like poison ivy does.

A few years ago I was leading a group of Merrimack College ecology students on a nature walk, when one of them pointed to a vine with five leaflets per leaf, and asked if it was poison ivy. “No,” I ...

Virginia creeper, a common Lowcountry vine sometimes confused with poison ivy, has leaves with five leaflets. Vicky McMillan Although sometimes confused with poison ivy, Virginia creeper ...

Leaves of three, let it be. That’s the common expression to avoid run-ins with poison ivy and poison oak — common toxic-to-the-touch plants found in North Carolina’s Triangle area and beyond. Virginia ...

Q. Can a person get poison ivy once the leaves are gone in the fall? Is it true that Virginia creeper vines can cause the same itching symptoms? Also, are poison oak and poison ivy the same thing? A.