SHERBORN, Mass. -- Climate changes might be making poison ivy more hardy and potent, plant experts said.

NewsCenter 5's David Brown reported that new studies suggest that poison ivy is growing faster and producing more potent oil. Many specialists feel that the climate resulting from global warming will offer better growing conditions that produce stronger ivy.

Poison ivy is spreading rapidly in one Sherborn field.

"There's a lot of poison ivy right here and it's spreading out of this old field," said plant specialist Ted Elliman.

Southern New England offers the perfect climate for the rash-inducing plant. While it is a nuisance now, experts said it could become worse.

"It's good for poison ivy. It's good for vines in general. They're growth is promoted by increased temperature and by carbon dioxide concentrations," said Elliman said.

Right now poison ivy grows along the edge of wooded areas, in old fields and in spots with not too much shade. But the climate change could create a super plant that produces bigger leaves, grows faster, is hardier and produces more irritating oils, plant experts said.

"If you have the right soil temperature, conditions, they'll spread over the ground, climb trees. They'll scramble in thickets so they become very widespread," Elliman said.

The possibility of more potent poison ivy is not lost in the world of medicine.

"As you get more residue from the poison ivy and as you get involvement, you actually get more blistering and you get more redness and more of an itch," said Dr. Mathew Avram, a dermatologist at Massachusetts General Hospital.

The plant may get stronger and the itching could get worse -- but the old saying is the same:

"'Three leaves let it be.' There are a couple of other three-leafed plants, but this is by far the one you are likely to encounter," Elliman said.