Hikers, beware: Eaton Fire brings out whimsically named poodle-dog bush

There’s a plant with an unusual name that rises out of the ground only after a fire.

It's called the poodle-dog bush, and it can produce a painful rash for people who come in contact with it.

The poodle-dog bush — with its lavender, bell-shaped flowers — already has been spotted in the Angeles National Forest, according to the U.S. Forest Service, which has a page dedicated to it on its website. The biggest growing season begins in June.

“This native plant is known as a 'fire follower' — growing densely in areas that burned in a wildfire and often along trails,” the website states. “We see a lot of poodle-dog bush in Southern California.”

Its name reportedly comes from its leaves, which droop and coil like poodle fur.

The most characteristic aspect, though, is a big flower stock that rises up to 10 feet with lavender flowers up and down the stem. It has an strong odor like marijuana.

“They are an unusual looking plant — a plant that when someone sees it they definitely would want to know what is that,” according to Naomi Fraga, director of conservation programs at the California Botanic Garden, which is often called upon by the Forest Service to do post-fire surveys.

Contact with the plant causes nasty rash

But don’t fall into the temptation to touch, like Fraga did.

“The first time I saw it, I was in this burn area, and I was just mesmerized by the plant. I thought this was one of the most amazing plants I’ve ever seen,” she said. “I was just touching it and really admiring it.”

She was lucky.

Fraga didn’t get the rash, but she’s known plenty of people who’ve suffered.

“People who’ve gotten it say it's worse than poison oak,” she told LAist. “I’ve had people who have had to get cortisone shots, and they were just really uncomfortable for a week or two.”

The Forest Service website warns it's a nasty rash that can result in blisters.

“The plant is covered in sticky hairs, which can dislodge easily and can be passed onto hikers who touch it or brush up against it,” it says.

The swelling, rash and itching appear 12 hours to two days after contact.

Poodle-dog bush is known as a fire-follower; it grows in areas that have recently burned, like this spot scorched by the Eaton Fire in the San Gabriel Mountains.

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Courtesy of Matt Baffert

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Fire causes plant to germinate

The seeds of the poodle-dog bush can lay dormant for years until the heat or smoke of a fire stimulates them to germinate.

“It's either the heat that allows the seed coat to break and allow it to respond to water, or it's chemicals in the smoke that trigger germination,” Fraga said.

Poodle-dog bush helps to heal the Earth, as its deep roots hold soil together, the Forest Service says. This reduces mud and debris from being dislodged after a fire and allows new plants to grow in the area.

The plant grows at elevations from 3,300-7,500 feet mostly on granite slopes and ridges. It is expected to cover the Eaton Fire area but not areas burned by the Palisades Fire, which include the coastal Santa Monica Mountains, where the plant is not especially abundant, Fraga said .

Bees love them. “They’re a good pollinator plant,” she said.

Trails in fire scarred areas are closed for now.

“Even if they have the trails closed for a couple of years, people will still see residual poodle-dog bush when they return to the trails,” Fraga said. “People should always be aware and know how to identify it when they see it.”

But the poodle dog bush is not an especially long-lived plant, she said. The conditions that make it thrive — lots of sunlight and open space without competing plants — change as other trees and plants return after a fire.

“Once those plants die, we won’t see them until the next fire,” she said.