Comment on WHAT'S UP DOC? Poisonwood

Q: Is there a plant on the Florida Keys stronger than poison ivy?A: Toxicodendron dermatitis (TD) is the fancy name for the allergic reaction from exposure to certain plants, including all the types of poison ivy, oak and sumac, as well as the closely related poisonwood. The allergic reaction from all of these is to urushiol, a mixture of oil and resin presumably made by the plant to ‘protect’ itself by making it undesirable to touch it.