Edible and Medicinal Plants of the Great Lakes Region [Paperback]

D.O. Thomas A. Naegele (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 8, 2004

This thorough and informative guide features over 150 plants commonly found in the Great Lakes Area, though many are prevalent throughout the United States. Each plant description is coupled with a detailed drawing, preparation techniques, related medical uses, edible qualities, a chemical breakdown, poisonous aspects, and the commercial value, if any. Edible and Medicinal Plants also features over seventy tables, organized by ailment, that list the seasons and habitats of plants known to cure specific symptoms. This well-organized, comprehensive manual allows the reader to easily find a natural remedy, or quickly identify and learn the benefits of a plant by looking it up by its Latin or common name. Edible and Medicinal Plants also contains indexes of the Latin, common, and family names of each plant listed, and has a glossary of medical terms and an illustrated glossary of botanical terms.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

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Product Details

• Paperback: 423 pages
• Publisher: Wilderness Adventure Books; Revised edition (November 8, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0923568379
• ISBN-13: 978-0923568375
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #458,663 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #61 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Plants > Mushrooms

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The author tested many of these plants on himself, October 24, 2006

By 

E. A. Lovitt "starmoth" (Gladwin, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Edible and Medicinal Plants of the Great Lakes Region (Paperback)

If you're at all interested in herbs and edible wild plants, you need to get this book if only to read about the author's experiences with many of the listed plants. Almost every plant in the woods is either edible (sometimes with a bit of fiddling) or medicinal, even spotted hemlock which is the poison that reputedly killed Socrates. 'Conium Maculatum' "has been utilized as an antispasmodic, sedative, and an anodyne" but I definitely wouldn't try this wild parsley look-alike at home. The author is a D.O. and knows what he's doing, but even he skipped a 'personal experience' with spotted hemlock.

I wish color could have been added to this book. It's the only thing missing from a thorough description and line drawing of each plant (mushrooms included). Much Indian lore is included, such as this description of the uses for Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia Purpurea):

"The Canadian Indians used the root tea to treat smallpox. It was used by Natives to sharpen their memory. Another report says the tea was supposed to cause forgetfulness of sorrow. The tea has been used with benefit in dyspepsia. The Ojibwe women drank a tea of the root to assist parturition."

The author heard of a man from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan who lived to be 125 "and attributed his old age to drinking the liquid in the leaves of the pitcher plant periodically." So Dr. Naegele tried it himself and it didn't do any harm except for the ingestion of a few rotten insects.

This book is extensively footnoted and cross-indexed. There are tables of symptoms, and the plants that can be used for their cure. For example the following plants maybe useful for "nervous complaints:" Hemp; Lady's Slipper; Pennyroyal; Cow Parsnip; Motherwort; Catnip; Ginseng; Rose; Mad-dog weed; Stinging nettle; Rose moss. There are also two extensive glossaries of botanical and medical terms.

Many of the included plants are found outside of the Great Lakes Region, so this book should prove useful to a much wider audience.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Deffinately worth a read!, April 9, 2008

By 

Nichoel M. Schmalfeldt - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Edible and Medicinal Plants of the Great Lakes Region (Paperback)

If you are interested in the subject matter, this is deffinately worth a read. It is very detailed, but personal experiences and lore keep it from being dry. My only complaint is that there are no actual photographs of any plants and the hand drawn illustrations are plain "black and white".

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars interesting book, April 25, 2010

By 

Coolio - See all my reviews

This review is from: Edible and Medicinal Plants of the Great Lakes Region (Paperback)

This is an interesting book and a good one for a forager with a little previous experience. It's really more of a recipe book. If you want to get into serious foraging you will have to buy a better field guide. I was a little bummed out when I found out the book even recommends not using this book as your source for identifying plants. That doesn't leave me feeling very confident.