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Toxicodendron Diversilobum, or Western Poison-Oak

Very Red
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Here were three very red poison-oak leaves floating in front of a very deep green background.


Toxicodendron diversilobum external link Poison-Oak   •  Western poison-oak or Pacific poison-oak   •  Audubon Canyon Ranch internal link Stinson Beach, California   •  (Photo posted Monday 10 October 2011)   •  (Photo taken in 2007)   •  © 2011 Bryan Costales Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License #Ranch_10
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A Typical Tangle
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A typical tangle of western poison-oak found alongside many wild trails in California. Absent trees to climb, it remains a tangled bush in form. Although most feared because of its red leaves, the green ones are equally irritating.


Toxicodendron diversilobum external link Poison-Oak   •  Western poison-oak or Pacific poison-oak   •  Oso Flaco Lake, Guadalupe, California   •  (Photo posted Monday 10 October 2011)   •  (photo taken 12:11:19 Tuesday 19 October 2010)   •  © 2011 Bryan Costales Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License #BCY_1694
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Close Up Of Leaves
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Up close, the leaf can be seen to resemble the leaf of an oak tree. Despite the resemblance, the poison-oak is not an oak at all, it just has similar leaves. That is why poison-oak is hyphenated, to distinguish it from poison oak.


Toxicodendron diversilobum external link Poison-Oak   •  Western poison-oak or Pacific poison-oak   •  Oso Flaco Lake, Guadalupe, California   •  (Photo posted Monday 10 October 2011)   •  (photo taken 12:11:53 Tuesday 19 October 2010)   •  © 2011 Bryan Costales Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License #BCY_1695
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As A Vine
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When a tree is present the poison-oak can climb just like ivy, but it is not an ivy.


Toxicodendron diversilobum external link Poison-Oak   •  Western poison-oak or Pacific poison-oak   •  Oso Flaco Lake, Guadalupe, California   •  (Photo posted Monday 10 October 2011)   •  (photo taken 13:33:56 Tuesday 19 October 2010)   •  © 2011 Bryan Costales Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License #BCY_1769
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Both Forms
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Here is a bush of poison-oak growing near or around the trunk of a tree. Just as if it were ivy, some of the stems have already begun to climb the tree.


Toxicodendron diversilobum external link Poison-Oak   •  Western poison-oak or Pacific poison-oak   •  Oso Flaco Lake, Guadalupe, California   •  (Photo posted Monday 10 October 2011)   •  (photo taken 13:35:44 Tuesday 19 October 2010)   •  © 2011 Bryan Costales Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License #BCY_1771
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