St. John USVI Flora: Christmas Bush (Comocladia dodonaea)

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Christmas Bush

The Christmas Bush (Comocladia dodonaea) is also known as Poison Ash and is a relative of Poison Ivy. It has small, overlapping, spiny leaves that turn red with age. This mix of small red and green leaves, has probably led to its local name, Christmas Bush.

Christmas Bush is a native plant found in South America and the Caribbean.

The active chemical irritant is called urushiol, which is also found in poison Iivy, poison oak, poison sumac, cashew nut shells and in extremely small amounts in mangos.