>Thanks for this insightful response, Chris. These are the GOOD questions to >ask. I recall Starhawk saying something about poison oak on the west coast >was not always poisonous to humans. Something about wiping so many things >off the face of the earth (and displacing others that should be growing >there), that it evolved into something poisonous to humans.
Relatively new to the east coast, I cannot imagine that poison ivy has always been the dominant plant of the woodlands edge and, for that matter, floor. What say, you eastern woodland natives? Saying this the other way around: I moved here from Utah where I never thought twice about leaving the path. Poison ivy and poison oak were seldom found and the forest floor (pine), was, for the most part, open. -Allan
