Botanical Accuracy: Batman and Poison Ivy's leaves

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Batman and Poison Ivy's leaves

The weeds and botanical inaccuracies have also entered the world of comics. In 1966, Batman had a new nemesis, Poison Ivy, a botanist turned bad. (Brilliant!, says the botanist and author of this blog.) The poison ivy plant is one of the most obnoxious weeds of North America.

Issue 181 of DC comics Batman, introducing Poison Ivy for the first time (1966).
The leaves are very similar to true poison ivy, and definitely not English ivy leaves.
© DC Comics, fair use, Wikipedia.

"Poison Ivy is an enemy of Batman. She is depicted as one of the world's most prominent eco-terrorists. She is obsessed with plants, botany, and environmentalism. She uses toxins from plants and her own bloodstream for her criminal activities, which are usually aimed at protecting the natural environment."
(link to this quote and more information about Poison Ivy at Batman Wiki)

Poison Ivy is of course named after one of North America's most troublesome weeds, the poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) in the family Anacardiaceae, same family as the tasty cashew nut and mango, as well as poison oak and poison sumac. This incredibly common woody plant, which can be a shrub or a liana, can cause absolutely horrible allergic dermatitis (skin reaction) with liquid-filled blisters and sores that can take weeks to heal. I know this first hand; I became allergic after moving to the US.

What is interesting with Batman's Poison Ivy is her leafy coverage, which has changed over the years. Now, remember, most Americans know how poison ivy looks like, 'leaves in three, leave them be'. In reality the three 'leaves' all belong to the same leaf, which is divided into three separate leaflets.


Poison ivy, leaves are divided into three separate leaflets, with the middle leaflet stalked. Do not touch this plant! Photo by Esculpio, public domain, link

But there is a sort of namesake, English (and Irish) ivy (Hedera helix and H. hibernica), which is an unrelated, non-allergenic European plant that has spread through horticulture across North America. English ivy has simple leaves with three lobes. Since the common names are similar, and both have green leaves and are climbing, people confuse these plants.

English ivy, with non-divided but lobed leaves.
Photo by James H. Miller, USDA Forest Service, public domain, link

The subsequent illustrators of Batman's Poison Ivy girl has not always been able to make the distinction between poison ivy and English ivy, and as a result, there is a lot of confusion, especially among non-DC comics people making illustrations, costumes, and such when it comes to the right leaf to draw or use.

Now, why is this important? Well, accessorizing Poison Ivy with the wrong plant is kind of giving Luke Skywalker a sunflower to fight with instead of a lightsaber. One is powerful and strong, the other is just pretty. We are not talking imaginary futuristic plants here, we are talking about living, existing species. Nobody would name a character 'Lord Bear' and then let him wear a deer skull on his head, now would they? The same thing should matter for plants, especially toxic plants.

So, lets see who got it right? These are true poison ivy leaves.


1966, with correct leaves on. (c) DC Comics, fair use, link.

Poison ivy on the cover of Joker's Asylum issue 1, 2008 (by DC Comics).
A little hard to tell on this, but there are three-divided leaves on the brown branch at the bottom
right and the leaves do not look like English Ivy at all.
(c) DC Comics, fair use, link.

A closeup of above illustration.
Source, see above.

Poison Ivy in 1981, also with right leaves on.
© DC Comics, fair use, drawn by Irv Novick and Steve Mitchell, link.

And in the last ten years, things started to go wrong.
Here we have sometimes English ivy instead of Poison Ivy.

The leaves are clearly broad and have three lobes, so English ivy it is.
Promotional art for Batman: Gotham Knights vol. 15 (2001). Illustration by Brian Bolland.
Close-up below. © DC Comics, fair use, link.

English ivy, definitely.
(source, see full image above)

English ivy leaves on Poison Ivy.
© DC Comics (DC Universe online), fair use, link.

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English ivy abounds on Poison Ivy here. © DC Comics, fair use, link.

If you are going to buy a Poison Ivy Halloween costume (for $300),
do you want it with English ivy leaves? Here is one of them.
Screenshot from etsy, © darkpony designs, fair use, link.

And some are just using some generic leaves, of uncertain species identities or are just unclear:

On the upper frame, she appears to have true poison ivy in her hair.

But on the bottom right frame the leaves suddenly have become more lobed.
This still possibly could be poison ivy, but it is not typical shapes at all. Looks more like English ivy now.

And, if you want to simplify, just remove all leaves and
then you don't have to worry about species identity:

What is Botanical Accuracy?

Would you care if someone called a cat 'a mouse' in the description of a medieval painting?

Would you care if someone served you horse meat, but said it was beef? I bet you would.

Would you care if the wrong chemical was listed in the ingredient list of your shampoo or cereal?

Would you care if you bought one plant, but got another?

Would you care if there were species or ingredient mistakes in advertising, menus, herbal pills, and such things?

Would you care if books on plants are illustrated with the wrong plants?

If so, here is the place for you to read about such problems in the world of plants and plant products, where unfortunately such mistakes, inaccuracies, and problems are not uncommon. This is usually due to lack of botanical knowledge or expertise, or sometimes because of plain ignorance.

Inaccuracies are common when it comes to plants, because it seems like we humans care to learn less about green things like trees, flowers, and herbs than we care to learn about animals, even when we eat plants, paint them, plant them, extract their chemicals, or use them in numerous other ways.

Without plants in the world you and I certainly would be dead. Some plants can also kill you with their toxins, so it is best to know which plant is what species. Time to learn some botany!

About mistakes, inaccuracies, and errors

Science is a process of gaining knowledge and understanding of the world around us. It is a never-ending process, and what we think are true facts today might change tomorrow. In science we are aiming for having the best understanding possible today based on what we and our predecessors have learned until now.

This means that what is botanically accurate from a scientific viewpoint might (and will) change. Other experts in the field of botany know a lot more about their particular research plants than I do. New scientific findings and conclusions are being published every day. This is just normal and part of the scientific process; we improve on our knowledge all the time.

The important thing is our willingness to continuously aim for botanical accuracy and the highest scientific standards in our use of names and facts. When things are wrong, let's correct them. Let us not perpetuate wrong botanical knowledge by accepting its incorrect use on commercial products, in everyday language, or in other parts of our contemporary cultures. Through scientific education and specific corrections we will improve botany and science for everybody, in supermarkets, restaurants, and garden centers.

It is the perpetuation of incorrect facts that are the problem, not the need for correction. Everybody makes mistakes, and everybody learns, throughout their lives. We need words to be able to communicate and talk about things, so let's use the right words and the right species names.

Undoubtedly there will be mistakes and errors on this blog, or things that need to be updated. If you want to get in touch, please e-mail me at botanicalaccuracy at gmail.com. If you see a mistake on this blog, e-mail me with the link to the post and an explanation what is incorrect and should be updated. If you represent a company and want to get in touch, please use the same e-mail address.