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Alithographica — Science Fact Friday: Urushiol
#biochemistry #biology #botany #chemistry #illustration #nature #oak #plant #poison #poisonivy #poisonoak #sciart #science #scientific #sumac #urushiol #poisonsumac #scientificillustration
Published: 2018-03-31 05:16:17 +0000 UTC; Views: 1302; Favourites: 54; Downloads: 10
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Description
Plants get creative when they try to keep things from eating them. Peppers tried to burn us out but we like the mouth tingly. Sumacs have us beaten, though.
The illustrations included are mostly for…y’know…illustrative purposes. To say that the plants - especially poison ivy - vary a lot is an understatement. If in doubt, do not touch.
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Comments: 17
Excellent! Is the Urushiol in mangos, etc. in the fruit/nuts? Never had a poison ivy/oak/sumac reaction... yet!
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I haven't either! Fingers crossed.
To my knowledge, it's in the shells/peels - hence why cashews aren't sold in their shells. Once you remove the shell/peel and wash the flesh, the fruit is fine.
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Not recommended! Not sure if it would actually kill you but it would make for a pretty rough hospital stay. Inhalation (burning the leaves) can also cause rashes in your lungs.
It does occur in a few food items, but (to my knowledge) only in the shells/peels. So once you remove the outside and wash thoroughly, the food itself is edible.
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That's all I needed to hear!
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Very useful. May I use this for a safety minute at work?
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Love the light you painted onto each leaf top. lovely.
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Yes! Please make people aware of this danger, and that it can be deadly.
On the serious side, I learned that white shoe polish will dry up the poisonous hive and stop itching. I generously used calamine lotion too. I was 16 and I went swimming in a backwoods creek that I did not I know had poison ivy all over the place, and eventually, all over me. Everyone who went there suffered too! Youth and Misery love company! 
BTW, I love your series and facts to back up the reason for your beautiful and accurate images!
Well done!
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Thank you! <3
Also whoa, that's weird. I don't think I've ever been in contact with urushiol (the plants were pretty rare where I grew up)...so I'd keep this in mind except that I don't think I'd ever have shoe polish available.
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You are most welcome, Jenn!
Poison vines are all over the Ohio Valley and its tributaries. We were taught as small children how to recognize poison ivy and poison oak. When I was a child, nurses had to wear all white, and that included white shoes and a white nurses hat that showed their education and responsibility level. Also, many people work black and white oxford shoes that needed polishing every night. White shoe polish was most common in the 1950s and 1960s; it covers up a "wonderload" of blemishes. LOL
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Hah! That's very interesting - the more you know.
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This is so cool! I find plants so fascinating, and those illustrations are great!
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OMG . . . this stuff. I am so allergic to it that I get weeping blisters all over. My cat used to walk through the poison oak in our front yard and I would end up covered in itchy nastiness! My mom, on the other hand, can cut the stuff down without getting even a small rash. Some people are just genetically lucky
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Oh my god. Cat. Stop.
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I think she liked the poison oak because it was nice and shady, good place to nap in the summer and catch birds
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