Table of Contents
Introduction x
Chapter 1 The Poysoned Weede 1
Chapter 2 A Collection of Rarities 12
Chapter 3 Bartram's Boxes 19
Chapter 4 Loathesome Harlotry 26
Chapter 5 The Biggest Book 37
Chapter 6 Strong Medicine 45
Chapter 7 Royal Color 53
Chapter 8 A Virginia Native 62
Chapter 9 The Vine Lifestyle 69
Chapter 10 The Columbian Exchange 75
Chapter 11 What Do Animals Eat? 85
Chapter 12 Bird Candy 91
Chapter 13 Preparing for Doomsday 95
Chapter 14 Holding On to the Land 100
Chapter 15 There's Gold in the Hills: Poison Oak 106
Chapter 16 The Devil You Know 114
Chapter 17 No Holds Barred 121
Chapter 18 The Future of Poison Ivy 125
Epilogue: To Feed a Mockingbird 131
Acknowledgments 135
Appendix: How to Avoid, Heal, Obliterate, and Coexist with Poison Ivy 136
Part 1 How Not to Get Poison Ivy 136
Before You Touch Poison Ivy 137
What Is Urushiol? 137
How to Identify Poison Ivy 140
After You've Touched Poison Ivy 140
Part 2 How to Treat Poison Ivy 141
The Rash 142
The Jewelweed Controversy 144
A List of Remedies 145
The Healing Power of Plants 146
Recovery 146
Part 3 How to Get Rid of Poison Ivy 147
Part 4 Toxic Relatives 150
Our American Cousin: Poison Sumac 151
Just Your Basic Poison Ivy: Toxicodendron radicans 152
The Other Poison Ivy: Toxicodendron rydbergii 152
Endnotes 154
Bibliography 166
Index 175
About the Author 180