Poodle Dog Bush

AlanK · Post by **AlanK** » Sun Jul 24, 2011 7:48 am

The LA times ran an article about everyone's favorite plant.

Leslie L · Post by **Leslie L** » Tue Jul 26, 2011 10:16 am

Are only the flowers poisonous? We walked through thickets of the stuff in December before it was in bloom, not knowing what it was. I even picked some and put it in my pocket because the leaves smell so good! But none of us had any reaction.

yobtaf · Post by **yobtaf** » Tue Jul 26, 2011 12:23 pm

Leslie L wrote: ↑Are only the flowers poisonous? We walked through thickets of the stuff in December before it was in bloom, not knowing what it was. I even picked some and put it in my pocket because the leaves smell so good! But none of us had any reaction.

Im not sure about what is and what is not, but here is my run in with it https://eispiraten.com/viewtopic.php?t=3967 I kinda joke about it but it really sucks. I have some scarring on the back of my hand, and the blistering on my fingers is all peeled off and healing now. Its been 4 weeks. I was just reading about a PCT thru hiker who was taken to the hospital because his feet were so swollen. Everywhere the plant touched me is still kinda flaky. as they say Your mileage may vary.

mcphersonm80 · Post by **mcphersonm80** » Tue Jul 26, 2011 2:35 pm

From what I've read, it seems similar to poison oak in that you'll be seemingly immune to it on one occassion, but then barely brush against it another time and you're covered head-to-toe in a horrible rash. And I don't think it's the flowers that get you, I'm pretty sure it's the resin and little spikes/hairs on the leaves and stems.

My wife and I went up on Saturday and cleared the trails all the way up San Gabriel Peak and Mt Lowe. We had tried to climb those three the previous week but there was just simply too much poodle and we didn't want to risk it, so we went home and decided to head back up with gloves and shears this past weekend.

There was a ton of it, but it's passable now. Markham had it too, but since there isn't really a trail, we didn't clear any up there. Just crossing our fingers that we won't break out now....

I do have to admit, it smells pretty good. Our gloves and shears are sitting in a corner, we're afraid to touch them.

Leslie L · Post by **Leslie L** » Tue Jul 26, 2011 3:48 pm

Wow, that's brave. These photos were taken on the Mt Lowe FR and upper Sam Merrill trails in December. It must be much worse now.

yobtaf · Post by **yobtaf** » Tue Jul 26, 2011 4:53 pm

mcphersonm80 wrote: ↑I do have to admit, it smells pretty good. Our gloves and shears are sitting in a corner, we're afraid to touch them.

I was reading if you take rubbing alcohol and wipe down your tools they will be ok. I cleaned everything I touched in my car, my camera and gps with rubbing alcohol. I put on the same shorts 4 or 5 days later and spread it again. I also read that breathing it can be really bad for your eyes and nose.

Teejate · Post by **Teejate** » Thu Jan 31, 2013 10:59 pm

I was browsing around the forum and ran across this post. The poodle bush is one wild plant.

I tend to hike above where poison oak grows so it's not really on my mind.
So when I broke out in crazy blisters after spending some time in the upper reaches of the burn area I was dumbfounded. Had NO idea how I could have contracted poison oak. Started looking around and found out about the poodle bush. Felt kind of stupid because I'd never heard of it before. I paid for my lesson. The stuff is nasty.

I'll never look at a poodle the same way again.