What are allergenic plants? You might think – how dangerous can a plant be? Well knowing the three top notorious allergenic plants can give you the knowledge needed in order to stay away from them.

The top three allergenic plants widely known include poison ivy, oak, and sumac. To understand the severity of getting any oil on your skin, only .25 ounces of the oil contained within these plants is sufficient to cause a rash on your skin. Just minutes after contact, the oil will already be under your skin, however, the rash will not develop until 12 to 72 hours after initial contact. Depending on your immune systems response time, the rash won’t spread but will continue to grow. The oil is found in just about every part of the plant, so ripping the plant to shreds will cause more oil to be released than just brushing against it.

But how do you defend against these plants? Well, if you do accidentally brush against any one of these plants, alcohol and cold water can be applied to the area of contact to get rid of the oil, but the area must be thoroughly cleaned to get the oil off. Knowing these few facts can help you to defend against these deadly plants.