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I'm trying to identify which plant in my late mother-in-law's garden is giving me a rash. I think it might be this creeper that seems to grow both horizontally & vertically. The location is eastern Virginia, USA. Any help you can offer regarding identification would be a great help.

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Niall C.
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lloyd
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  • Lloyd, do you have other allergies? Definitely need pictures. I used to have this gorgeous golden hops that I couldn't touch much...thank you for the picture. Is the other plant Mondo grass or Liriope? Have you seen any flowers on this ODD PINATE leaved plant? Be back soon... – stormy Jul 20 '17 at 19:57
  • no, no plant allergies that i'm aware of. i didn't grow up in this part of the world so everything here is outside my already extremely limited knowledge base. no flowers on the odd pinate leaved plant. as for the other plant, i'm sorry i have no idea what it is but there's a lot of what appear to be wild strawberries in the same bed. – lloyd Jul 20 '17 at 20:27
  • I found the plant I am fairly sure is your problem...Trumpet Creeper and it affects everyone that touches it! Wait until you see the pictures of this plant in flower! Just wear a rubberized hazmat suit whilst in the garden, grins! Make sure you take benedryl (sp) when you react like this. Otherwise you keep getting more and more sensitized. Just call me Doc Stormy. I just went through an insect bite where I didn't take benedryl (sp) and I was pretty miserable for 5 days. And I am not a sensitive person. Of course ask your doctor...gotta put that in! – stormy Jul 20 '17 at 20:35
  • Wear gloves and long sleeves. If you feel any burning or itching just quit and hire someone else to do this work. Take benedryl! Discuss this with your doctor of course first. – stormy Jul 20 '17 at 20:38
  • @stormy - it doesn't affect anyone who touches it - I handle this regularly without any problem at all. But its the sap that can cause itching, though it should pass quickly if its this - if its an ongoing rash and itching, might be something else – Bamboo Jul 20 '17 at 21:44
  • Guess everyone is different. I didn't know this either until I looked it up and it most certainly is an irritant for lots of people. Definitely a good thing to put out there that his rash might not be from this plant. But this plant most certainly causes skin rash and the itchies. I've become more sensitized not less with age. I hate worrying about allergies but I got stung at least 47 times by bald faced hornets because they pulled 47 stingers out of my skin. Luckily I went to town to find a clinic cause I did get anaphylactic shock. That was not a good day! – stormy Jul 21 '17 at 01:30

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This is Campsis radicans or Trumpet creeper. Most definitely your problem. Causes lots of rashes and itching! Very very aggressive plant, great if need to cover fences, wonderful flowers but you have to be aggressive back to restrain this plant.

stormy
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  • no flowers on it. i pulled a lot of it up thinking it was a bindweed and because it was pulling down the fence between my mom-in-law's yard and the neighbor's. i'll investigate further now i know what i'm dealing with. thank you, stormy. – lloyd Jul 20 '17 at 20:31
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    Are there different kinds? I have a lot and I pull it up frequently with no problem. The deer love it also ( East TX). – blacksmith37 Jul 20 '17 at 21:24
  • So you pull it up and no irritation or rash? – stormy Jul 21 '17 at 00:11
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    No reaction of any kind. And as a child at my aunts in southern WI , I would put the flowers on all my fingers. The side of her house was totally covered with it. The beginning of my interest in horticulture ? – blacksmith37 Jul 25 '17 at 01:26
  • @blacksmith37 Something is up with you and plants. Grins! I've no reactions either to Trumpet Creeper but had to hesitate whenever adding them to a landscape. Individuals are different with sensitivities. I've always had horrible hay fever but didn't keep me from haying most of my teenage life! I wasn't very pretty or fun to be around as I growled moistly with swollen eyes and dripping nose, grins! So this Campsis radicans was partly responsible for you becoming a plant person?...very cool. Hopefully you have one of these gorgeous plants to remind you of your ROOTS! – stormy Jul 25 '17 at 01:43
  • I did have a bad reaction to poison oak. Took an herbicde and wiped it out near my house. – blacksmith37 Jul 25 '17 at 20:38