ALLERGY: Ragweed

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ALLERGY Ragweed Poison Ivy

• Michelle Peterson
• Biology 341
• Plants and Society
• Dr. Mohamed

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Ragweed

• Scientific classification
• KingdomPlantaeDivisionMagnoliophyta
• ClassMagnoliopsidaSubclassAsteridae(unran
  ked)Euasterids IIOrderAsteralesFamilyAsteracea
  eSubfamilyAsteroideaeTribeHeliantheaeSubtribe
  GenusAmbrosia

http//www.tarleton.edu/range/New20Photo20Slide
s/Photo20Slides201-137/western20ragweed.jpg
Ragweed is in reference to the ragged look of
its leaves.
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What is Ragweed?

• Most important cause of allergenic rhinitis and
  pollen asthma in North America.
• Can be annual or perennial herbs.
• There is short or common ragweed (30cm 1.5m) or
  giant ragweed (4-5 m)
• 21 species of ragweed occur in N. America but
  most problems are caused by A. artemisiifolia
  A. trifida.
• Ragweed can quickly establish itself where humans
  have cleared existing vegetation.
• It distributes a huge amt of pollen. Its pollen
  is allergenic and is airborne over a large area.

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Description of Ragweed

• Grows to 1 to 5 feet.
• Stems are green, hairy
• Leaves are divided into narrow segments, each
  irregularly lobed.
• Flowers are 2 to 4 inches long with terminal
  spikes of green to yellow flowers.

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A
B
C
http//www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?
http//www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artoct04/bjamb
ro.html
A is a Common Ragweed B is the leaves which are
described as ovate and slightly toothed C is a
magnification of the flowers, each flower has 5
petals
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Ragweed Ambrosia artemisiifolia
A single leaf and a seed
http//plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/HerbLink/multime
dia/31/377/17081.png
http//www.backyardnature.net/pix/ragweed1.jpg
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RagweedDistribution and Habitat

• Ragweed grows all around us, even near our homes
  making it hard not to come into contact.
• Usually grow in rural areas but not limited to.
• Grows in cultivated fields, grain fields, old
  meadows and waste places.
• Where soil is disturbed by streams of water and
  in places where chemicals effect such as winter
  salting of roadsit will still grow.
• Found along roadsides river banks, parking
  lots, vacant lots fields.
• A plant lives only one season, but that plant
  produces up to 1 billion pollen grains.

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Distribution Habitat cont

• Pollen seed producing flowers grow on the same
  plant but are separate organs.
• After midsummer, the flowers mature and release
  pollen.
• Warmth, humidity, and wind help release the
  pollen.
• Pollen must travel by air to another plant to
  fertilize the seed for growth the coming year.
• Rain colder temperatures slow pollen release.
• Pollen has been measured to travel by air 400
  miles out to sea and 2 miles up in atmosphere,
  but most falls out close to the plant.

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Varieties of Ragweed

• Ambrosia artemisiifolia L. North America
• Ambrosia psilostachya DC. Perennial ragweed,
  Western ragweed.
• Ambrosia trifida L. Great ragweed, Kinghead.
  Atlantic Coast.

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Ragweed Ambrosia artemisiifolia

• A widely present weed with terminal spikes of
  numerous pollen flowers.
• Found throughout the country but most common in
  North America.
• Its pollen is by far the most abundant and most
  toxic of all the aeroallergens.
• High Counts of Pollen
• Pollen count range is from a few hundred to
  nearly 2,000 grains per cubic yard of atmosphere.
• Eastern U.S. has a high count but in plains area
  between Rockies and Appalachians, the abundance
  of ragweed pollen is astonishing.
• Low Counts of Pollen in
• Northern Wisconsin, upper peninsula of Michigan,
  mountains of upper NY, Maine, New Hampshire,
  central eastern Canada, southern Florida.
• Alaska and Hawaii have hardly any ragweed pollen.
• Illness hay fever, asthma

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Hay Fever Asthma

• Hay Fever
  
• Aka allergic rhinitis is caused by certain
  pollens that some people are sensitive to. It
  increases the chemical histamine which causes
  these symptoms.
• Symptoms include sneezing, runny nose, itchy
  eyes, congestion.
• Asthma
• Inside walls of your airways are inflamed making
  it hard to breath.
• Symptoms include coughing, wheezing, sob, chest
  tightness.

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How Are They Diagnosed?

• Careful medical history done by physician.
• Physical exam and testing.
• Main approach is the skin sensitivity test where
  your skin is scratched with ragweed pollen
  extract.
• Blood teststakes longer, more expensive.

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What can you do for Ragweed Allergy?

• No cure
• Avoid contact
• Allergy shots
• Inhalers or Respiratory treatments.
• Several nasal sprays and antihistamines.
• Use air purifiers with microfilters.
• Avoid going outdoors when ragweed is at its worse.

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Interesting Facts about Ragweed

• 21 species of ragweed in North America
• Ambrosia is the generic name of ragweed and in
  Latin it means food of the gods.
• Grows best in sunny, newly disturbed soils, free
  from competition from other weeds and grasses.
• Estimated that one ragweed plant can produce up
  to 1 billion pollen grains.
• Not poisonous but they are included in this
  category because they produce huge quantities of
  pollen causing allergies and hay fever. 3
  different hay fever seasons caused by the
  different plants.
• Can produce undesirable flavors in milk milk
  products if ingested by animal.
• This family is of little commercial value to man.
• 75 of Americans are allergic to ragweed.

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Poison Ivy

• Kingdom  Plantae PlantsSubkingdom  Tracheobionta
  Vascular plantsSuperdivision  Spermatophyta
  Seed plantsDivision  Magnoliophyta Flowering
  plantsClass  Magnoliopsida DicotyledonsSubclass 
   RosidaeOrder  SapindalesFamily  Anacardiaceae
  Sumac familyGenus  Toxicodendron Mill. poison
  oak

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Toxicodendron radicans Poison Ivy

• Also called Poison Ivy, Poison Creeper,
  Three-leaved Ivy.
• Classified with Poison Oak Sumac
• Produces the chemical/oil urushiol
• Derived from urushi, the Japanese name for
  lacquer.
• Common plant in our area.
• Vine can grow up to 100ft long.

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Description of Poison Ivy

• Stems are woody.
• Can be shrub-like or a climbing vine.
• Roots sometimes run horizontally underground for
  several meters sending up leafy shoots.
• 3-leaved, glossy or dull green.
• Flowers are polygamous, yellow-green petals.
• Berries are white/cream colored, almost dry,
  globular in shape (4-6 mm in diameter).

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Poison Ivy
http//www.blposse.com/graphics/poison_ivy_leaves.
jpg
http//www.mbl.edu/news/features/images/ivy1.jpg
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Distribution Habitat

• It is common where we live and grows all around
  us making it impossible to ignore.
• Grows around the house, gardens, and trails we
  walk on. Also in dry rocky fields, pastures,
  fence rows, banks, waste places, also in rich
  alluvial woodlands.
• Prefers moist conditions along lake shores,
  stream banks, edge of woods, trunks of trees.
• Widespread throughout the U.S. Canada.
• 1 to 5 years is normal for urushiol oil to stay
  active on any surface including dead plants.
• In autumn, leaves turn a bright red.
• Only a billionth of a gram is needed to cause a
  rash. (1 nanogram)
• Wind blown pollen can result in rash.

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Species of Poison Ivy

• Some Include
• Toxicodendron quercifolia Steud. (deeply lobed
  leaflets, Maryland to Texas)
• -Toxicodendron microcarpa Steud. (a form with
  fruits 3-4mm in diameter, Atlantic States)
• -Toxicodendron diversiloba T. G. (Pacific
  coast)
• -Toxicodendron radicans L. (common climbing form
  of the Eastern States)

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Poisoning

• Severe inflammation blistering.
• Doubtful that anyone is absolutely immune.
• Degree seems to vary with the individual,
  condition of the plant, and how they were
  exposed.
• Poisonous properties are believed to be due to
  the urushiol oila yellowish, slightly volatile
  oil.
• Oil is produced in the resin ducts of the leaves,
  flowers, fruits, barks of stems and roots.
• The wood hairs from the leaves do not seem to
  contain the poison.
• Can get it by touching the plant directly or
  indirectly by touching clothes, tools, or
  particles of smoke carrying the poison.

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Symptoms of Poison Ivy

• Red, itchy rash.
• Inflammation of rash site.
• Swelling to site.
• Intense irritation.
• Vesicles or blisters.
• The skin will break and exude a liquid which will
  form scabs.
• Symptoms usually appear within 12-24 hrs after
  contact.
• Sometimes within a few hrs or delayed for several
  days.

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Treatment

• Earlier treatments but can still be used
• -right after contact, wash affected area in a
  solution of 5 ferric chloride in a half-and-half
  mixture of alcohol water.
• -wash with hot water soap with alkali in it
  several times.
• -use baking soda or Epsom salts to relieve pain
  caused by inflammation.
• More modern treatments
• -Ivy dry, Ivy block, Ivy off
• -Caladryl clear
• -Lanacane
• -Cortisone cream, cortisone injections
• -Prednisone

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Poison Ivy Rash
http//www.poison-ivy.org/rash/left-arm.jpg
http//www.medscape.com/content/2004/00/47/51/4751
90/art-pn475190.fig3.jpg
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How to Prevent?

• Learn to identify the plants.
• Avoid contact and areas where the plants are.
• When around such areas cover your skin as much as
  possible.

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Myths vs. Facts

• Poison Ivy rash is contagious
• You can catch it by just being near it.
• Leaves of 3, let them be.
• Dont worry about dead plants.

• Wont spread to anyone or other parts of body
  unless urushiol oil is still present on the skin.
• Have to come in direct contact with the oil or
  get it airborne.
• Poison sumac has 7-13, but yes, ivy and oak have
  3 per cluster.
• Urushiol oil lives up to 5 yrs on dead plants and
  surfaces.

http//poisonivy.aesir.com/view/fastfacts.html
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Poison Oak Poison Sumac
http//images.google.com/imgres?imgurlhttp//www.
duke.edu/cwcook/trees/tove4969.jpgimgrefurlhttp
//www.duke.edu/cwcook/trees/tove.htmlh385w45
0sz57hlenstart1um1tbnid92K6Ck-9a-5oOMt
bnh109tbnw127prev/images3Fq3Dpoison2Bsumac
26um3D126hl3Den
http//z.about.com/d/pediatrics/1/7/P/5/poison_oak
.jpg
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Interesting Facts

• Urushiol Oil derived from urushi, Japanese name
  for lacquer.
• When the Japanese restored the gold leaf on the
  golden Temple in Kyoto, they painted the urushiol
  lacquer on it to preserve and maintain the gold.
• Most common allergy in the country claiming half
  the population, right up with ragweed.
• Covered by workers comp in some states (CA)
• 1st published records of poison ivy in N America
  date back to 1600s
• Poison Ivy coined by Captain John Smith in 1609.
• Western poison oak discovered by David Douglas on
  Vancouver Island. Douglas fir also named after
  him.

http//poisonivy.aesir.com/view/fastfacts.html
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Works Cited

• Arena, Jay M Hardin, James W. (1970). Human
  Poisoning from Native and Cultivated Plants. (2nd
  ed.) Duke University Press Raleigh, N.C.
• Coon, Nelson. (1980). Using Wild and Wayside
  Plants. Dover Publications, Inc. New York.
• Coulter, Merle c. Dittmer, Howard J. (1964).
  The Story of the Plant Kingdom. (3rd ed.) The
  University of Chicago Press Chicago, Illinois.
• Fuller, Harry J. Carothers, Zane B. (1963) The
  Plant World. (4th ed.) Holt, Rhinehart and
  Winston, Inc.
• Gleason, Henry A Cronquist, Arthur. (1964). The
  Natural Geography of Plants. Columbia University
  Press New York London.
• Harris, Marjorie. (2003). Botanica North
  America.(1st ed) Harper Collins Publishers Inc.
  New York.
• Muenscher, Walter Conrad (1940). Poisonous
  Plants of the United States. New York The
  MacMillan Company.
• Nadakavukaren, Mathew McCracken, Derek. (1985)
  Botany, An Introduction to Plant Biology. West
  Publishing Company.
• Raven, Evert, Eichhorn (1986). Biology of
  Plants. (4th ed.) Worth Publishers, Inc.
• Simpson, Beryl B. Ogorzaly Molly C. (2001).
  economic Botany. (3rd ed.) McGraw-Hill Higher
  Education.
• Taylor, Norman. (1965). Plant Drugs That Changed
  The World. Dodd, Mean Company New York.

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Picture References

• http//www.tarleton.edu/range/New20Photo20Slide
  s/Photo20Slides201-137/western20ragweed.jpg
• http//www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?
  http//www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artoct04/bjamb
  ro.html
• http//www.backyardnature.net/pix/ragweed1.jpg
• http//plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/HerbLink/multime
  dia/31/377/17081.png
• http//www.blposse.com/graphics/poison_ivy_leaves.
  jpg
• http//www.mbl.edu/news/features/images/ivy1.jpg
• http//www.poison-ivy.org/rash/left-arm.jpg
• http//www.medscape.com/content/2004/00/47/51/4751
  90/art-pn475190.fig3.jpg
• http//z.about.com/d/pediatrics/1/7/P/5/poison_oak
  .jpg
• http//images.google.com/imgres?imgurlhttp//www.
  duke.edu/cwcook/trees/tove4969.jpgimgrefurlhttp
  //www.duke.edu/cwcook/trees/tove.htmlh385w45
  0sz57hlenstart1um1tbnid92K6Ck-9a-5oOMt
  bnh109tbnw127prev/images3Fq3Dpoison2Bsumac
  26um3D126hl3Den