Guinness World Records says world’s tallest poison ivy plant is growing in Paris, Ont.

Robert Fedrock stands next to the Guinness World Records tallest poison ivy plant on his property in Paris, Ont. (Courtesy/Robert Fedrock)

It appears the old saying “leaves of three, let it be,” meant the opposite for a Paris, Ont. man, who landed in the history books thanks to one poisonous plant on his property.

According to Guinness World Records, the tallest poison ivy plant was discovered by Robert Fedrock and stretches an impressive 20.75 metres -- or 68 feet.

Guinness World Records notes the record was achieved on March 12, 2023, but Fedrock said he has known about the plant for some time.

“I actually found the plant a few years ago, I was in the woods making a trail, and I just happened upon it,” Fedrock said. “It was covered in quite a bit of dense brush, so I could only see a little bit of it initially."

Fedrock said he could see a large, hairy vine that seemed very unusual.

He said a little later on, he was thinking about what it could be and figured it was probably a Virginia creeper vine or poison ivy, and after seeing the leaves that stood around 10 feet off the ground, he was sure it was poison ivy.

According to the Government of Canada, the most common kind of poison ivy grows as a trailing vine with upright leafy stalks 10 to 80 cm, or 4 to 31.5 inches, high. The second kind is an aerial vine that may climb from 6 to 10 metres high on trees, posts or rough surfaces.

The plant on Fedrock’s property, winds around a White Ash tree, clinging to the stem of the tree.

“I’d been showing it to my friends and whatnot, and one of my friends say ‘hey, you should really submit this to Guinness,’ and I kind of thought about it for a bit and thought may as well,” Fedrock said.

He said when he looked up the category on Guinness World Records, he did not see this specific category, so he put the submission in.

“Part of their requirements was to have a botanist, or someone certified, to positively identify it,” Fedrock added.

Once confirmed with the botanist, the submission was sent off, and the plant was certified as the world’s tallest poison ivy.

Fedrock said it feels pretty cool to have a piece of history.

“It is interesting. I just didn’t think it would be interesting to this many people,” he added.

“I get a lot of people are fascinated by this, and the thing is really interesting, and then I get a few people that think it should be cut down, and that’s a very sad way of looking at the world,” Fedrock said.

He added that it is an important part of the ecosystem, and a specimen of this size deserves some appreciation, not hostility.