Edible Wild Plants of the Prairie: An Ethnobotanical Guide (Hardcover)

by Kelly Kindscher (Author), Carol Kuhn (Author) "These are the stories of native prairie plants: how they were used as food by prehistoric and historic Indians, early explorers, and travelers of the..." (more)
Key Phrases: edible prairie plants, groundplum milkvetch, marsh elder seeds, Prairie Bioregion, Melvin Gilmore, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
This reference book covering 122 plant species is the result of an 80-day walk across Kansas and eastern Colorado. A general discussion of the Prairie Bioregion precedes individual descriptions which include common, American Indian, and scientific names and what they mean. Also included are a formal description, discussion of food uses, and cultivation information. The food use information is gleaned from an extensive list of references, spiced with the author's own experience in preparing and eating these foods. This is the first book on edible plants of the region and should be a valuable reference for botanical, regional and North American Indian lore collections. Drawings not seen. Katharine Galloway Garstka, Intergraph Corp., Huntsville, Ala.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description
Long before sunflower seeds became a popular snack food, they were a foodstuff valued by Native Americans. for some 10,000 years, from the end of the Pleistocene to the 1800s, the indigenous peoples of the plains regarded edible native plants, like the sunflower, as an important source of food. Not only did plants provide sustenance during times of scarcity, but they also added variety to what otherwise would have been a monotonous diet of game. Nevertheless, the use of native plants as food sharply declined when white men settled the Great Plains and imposed their own culture with its differing notions of what was fit to eat. Those notions tended to exclude from the accepted diet such plants as soapweed, lambsquarter, ground cherry, prairie turnip, and prickly pear. Today it is strange to think of eating chokecherries, which were a key ingredient in that staple of the Indian diet, pemmican.

Based on plant lore documented by historical and archaeological evidence, Edible Wild Plants of the Prairie relates how 122 plant species were once used as food by the native and immigrant residents on the prairie. Written for a broad audience of amateur naturalists, botanists, ethnologists, anthropologists, and agronomists, this guide is intended to educate the reader about wild plants as food sources, to synthesize information on the potential use of native flora as new food crops, and to encourage the conservation and cultivation of prairie plants.

By writing about the edible flora of the American prairie Kelly Kindscher has provided us with the first edible plant book devoted to the region that Walt Whitman called "North America's characteristic landscape" and that Will Cather called "the floor of the sky." In describing how plants were used for food, he has drawn upon information concerning tribes that inhabited the prairie bioregion. As a consequence, his book serves as a handy compendium for readers seeking to learn more about historical uses of plants by Native Americans.

The book is organized into fifty-one chapters arranged alphabetically by scientific name. For those who are interested in finding and identifying the plants, the book provides line drawings, distribution maps, and botanical and habitat descriptions. The ethnobotanical accounts of food use form the major portion of the text, but the reader will also find information on the parts of the plants used, harvesting, propagation (for home gardeners), and the preparation and taste of wild food plants. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 276 pages
• Publisher: University Press of Kansas (May 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0700603247
• ISBN-13: 978-0700603244
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,359,374 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book;entirely usable in the field., December 11, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Edible Wild Plants of the Prairie: An Ethnobotanical Guide (Paperback)

I think this is an excellent book; well-written, with excellent translations of Indigenous People's names for these plants. (I am both D-/Lakota, speak, read, and write my languages; and forage for plants.) IF I have a criticism, it is (1) that the book should have a sequel with another 130 or so plants including both food and medicinal uses, and (2) I would wish for GOOD, SHARP color photographs of the plants as harvested AND as you would see them if you were looking closely for them where they usually grow. The sketches are extremely well done but there is nothing like color to show the differences between plants that appear similar (at least until your eye is honed). Tinpsila, for example, has a near look-alike that grows in the same area where I hunt, and it is hard to teach novices the difference in person, harder from a book with B/W sketches. I like the facts that (1) she includes the medicinal uses of at least some of the plants in the book; (2) she notes the spiritual/cultural perspectives of us Indigenous People, and (3) she doesn't make any majority-culture or "Christianity Way" comments on our Traditional perspectives when she does this, nor does she refer to our Traditional beliefs in the past tense. Our Traditional Ways and beliefs are still very much alive and being lived; even if the number of us practicing them is not all of our People at the present time. If I could have only one book to take with me if I were to be "lost" somewhere, I think it would be this one.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my Favorites, August 3, 2008

By	Sam Thayer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Edible Wild Plants of the Prairie: An Ethnobotanical Guide (Paperback)

This is one of the best books written on edible wild plants. The author has researched the plants thoroughly, reporting on known ethnographic uses as well as his own experiences. The text is botanically accurate and pleasant to read. The line drawings are excellent, and while some would prefer photos, these are very good illustrations. This is one of the wild food books I refer to most often. One thing I really like about it is the way Kelly cites his sources so I can investigate further if I want. I also like that he includes a lot of plants like prairie turnip, ground plum, and bush morning glory, which are not widely discussed elsewhere in edible plant books.

If you live in the prairie region this should be your first edible wild plant book. If you live elsewhere it is still an awsome book to have.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, October 31, 2008

By	J. Taylor (North Idaho) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Edible Wild Plants of the Prairie: An Ethnobotanical Guide (Paperback)

This is the best guide for the region -- the drawings are excellent, as is the text. Grab a copy!