Does anyone know what this plant is called? It's the one in the middle.

Looks like Solomon's Seal to me. There's a bunch of different cultivars, when it's flush and flowering you can probably ID it.

My guess would be Maianthemum racemosum, False Solomon's Seal.

I think you're right Sue, the leaves look closer to that.

Don't know if it is soloman's seal or not, but that other 5-leaved plant looks like virginia creeper. Makes me itch just thinking about it!

Does virginia creeper contain urushiol? I have never had any problems with mine despite breaking out in hives if I get too close to poison ivy. Maybe I should use more caution around the virginia creeper?

Well, I've just heard that people who are allergic to poison ivy can have a reaction to virginia creeper.

From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
"The sap of the plant contains raphides (needle-shaped crystals of calcium oxalate) which puncture skin causing irritation and blisters in sensitive people"

Usually when I get a rash, I chalk it up to poison ivy, even if I am not really sure which of the plants caused the rash.

The other plant does looks like

I will wear gloves when pruning the creeper from now on, but I sure do love that plant. I have to cut it back every year to keep it from getting up to the transformer - I've got it growing up the guy-wires to the power pole in our yard to keep me from walking into them in one of my sleepwalking while awake moments. I so love the brilliant red fall color, it grows wild around here in numerous places, covering the banks with its cheery sign of autumn.

Our current property is covered with Virginia Creeper and we also had a lot of it at a home we owned in Daytona Beach for 40+ years. I've yanked the stuff out for many years and thank goodness I've never had issues with it like the rash and itch I get from Poison Ivy.

Lauri, you may not be allergic to it, like Lin. My husband and I are just so allergic to poison ivy, I don't want to take it a chance with the virginia creeper.

Virginia creeper and poison ivy are not related at all, and as you likely just read, VC does not contain urushiol. On the other hand, if you had a mom that put Bacteen on every little scratch, was always fastidious about hygene, and never let you play in the mud(etc.) outside, well then you're likely allergic to a lot more things then the rest of us.
If your allergic to the many varieties of the houseplant Dieffenbachia, then you might also be allergic to VC. They have the same oxalate crystals. And of course, don't eat the berries.

Leftwood said: On the other hand, if you had a mom that put Bacteen on every little scratch, was always fastidious about hygene, and never let you play in the mud(etc.) outside, well then you're likely allergic to a lot more things then the rest of us.

LOL, I agree! I grew up in the south and rarely wore shoes unless I had to (school, church ... the occasional visit to distant family.) I still hate wearing shoes; I go outside barefoot all the time and my husband is always telling me I should put shoes on. For many years I gardened without wearing gloves and to this day I have to force myself to put them on ... all of which is probably why I'm immune to a lot of stuff. Poison Ivy is different though, it still gets me if I'm not careful ... I sure wish I could become immune to that stuff!

Ha! Lin, I was the same way with no shoes all summer - I used to say in the spring "It's time to get my summer feet on", meaning toughening up the soles so I could walk on gravel. My husband won't even walk around the house without his shoes on.

I do wear gloves most of the time while gardening, however. Otherwise my hands dry out and crack, fingernails break, and cuticles split. I remember when we first moved to this valley years ago and went to the farmer's market one Saturday. My husband remarked "Wow, all the women around here are workers! Did you see their hands?"

I used to be able to push the lawnmower through the poison ivy to make a path down to the river with no ill effects. I must have hit a breaking point somewhere along the line - now if I touch the stuff, I'm on steroids for a couple weeks.