No refresher needed here--I know that plant in even the leafless stage! Plenty of it in the OC Wilderness parks. Luckily, none in my tiny garden. But reminders never hurt.

Thank you! I have been staring at a vine that is pushing up in my yard, wondering if it is blackberry or poison oak, and this is very helpful!

One of an older neighbors favorite stories was seeing a woman coming up to the road with lots of pretty red vining leaves she'd gathered, telling him aren't these gorgeous - at which point he informed her they're poison oak. New growth might have the red tinge, generally green in summer, red in fall - but if you see something that looks like it regardless of seasons, be careful. CA doesn't have poison ivy (I'm originally form New England and the Girl Scouts always tried to educate us on that one) but we certainly have poison oak. One of the kids I'd hired to weed whack said his mom used to get it from doing their laundry. If I'm working outside near brush now - I stand in front of the washer when done with garden gloves still on - everything goes in with the gloves going last (I have forested acres). Always have the spray calamine in my first aide drawer - love the stuff. The other great tip is if you think you brushed against it - wash that area with dish soap - cuts the oils in it that make it stick.

5Birdy - those Moosa creek pictures are great. Here's the U.C. info - can look like a shrub (the Las Pilatas pic) or vine http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7431.html 

I realized my trespasser was blackberry because it was fuzzy and thorny, and with more toothy serrated edges but they sure look alike, including the redness!

When I was quite young, I had an encounter ..lol..with Poison Oak up at Angel's Camp, turned into impetigo, then turned into pimpkus, docs told me that if I ever got with 100 yards of P.O. again, to run like crazy. I still have scars....

My friend's 14 year old granddaughter got into it two weeks ago here around Crescent City and is having a very difficult time with it. The nurse at the clinic told her that there is beach poison oak here also and that it is even more potent than that found in wooded areas...this is hearsay, not sure of the veracity