| Hello Tara,
There are a number of imposters who resemble poison ivy but are in fact not. First, here is a site that may help you in identifying the tree:
http://www.oplin.lib.oh.us/products/tree/index.html
I had planned on taking pictures of a lovely tree in my yard that very closely resembles poison ivy at the leaves. Unfortunately, rain and clouds intervened and I hope to get that picture tomorrow and put it up here on the website. My initial thought is that it may be a Common Hop tree though it will take a closer inspection (and climbing over the compost pile to get to it) to know for sure.
Here is a small (and incomplete) list of plants and trees which resemble poison ivy:
- Northern Dewberry
- avens species
- young box elder tree (manitoba maple)
- common Hop tree
- common strawberry
- virgins Bower
- virginia creeper
I have read in places that climbing poison ivy will grow into a shrub if there is nothing to cling to. There is a non-climbing poison ivy known as Rydberg's poison ivy. This plant grows low as a shrub though can get to larger heights (10') if left undisturbed for many years. Here is a great reference to that plant:
http://www.rook.org/earl/bwca/nature/shrubs/toxicodendron.html
Here where we are (USDA zone 6 - east coast), Eastern poison ivy seems to dominate and in climbing form. I have seen individual branches stand up but no more than about 2' tall.
Hope this helps! | 
