Customer Reviews

A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs: Of Eastern and Central North America (Peterson Field Guide)

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Here is everything that a field guide should be and contain--small enough to stick into a pocket but comprehensive, definitive, dependable and well-illustrated. Pictures, descriptions, locations, uses, warnings. Foster is not only an herbalist of the first rank but one of the finest plant photographers out there clicking. His gorgeous Healing Plants calendar is on my wall; the verdant photos provide daily pleasure. Herbal preparations as alternatives to synthetic drugs are increasingly chosen. St. John's Wort for depression, Saw Palmetto for prostate treatment, Goldenseal for a multitude of symptoms. Not typically thought of as herbs, trees are also a part of our living pharmacy and 66 are included here. Ginkgolides extracted from leaves of the Ginkgo tree (ginkgo biloba) are the best-selling herbal preparation in Europe. Aspirin derives from the willow. Amongst shrubs I learned that Hawthorn leaf and flower preparations are used in Germany to treat congestive heart failure, based on at least 14 controlled clinical studies. With increasing usage, many plants are in danger of being overharvested. Conservation is necessary to preserve a viable natural community of plants that can and may help alleviate human suffering. Stopping plant thieves is a law enforcement challenge but easy identification of plants may save others of us from bulldozing a patch of ginseng for a house site. It is noted that Pale Purple Coneflower (Echinacea pallida) "is common in eastern Kansas but it is very rare in western North Carolina at the eastern extreme of its range. The plant might be judiciously harvested in Kansas, but in North Carolina it should be left alone." More than just a field guide, Medicinal Plants and Herbs is an essential reference book for our personal library. The value of this big little book can hardly be overestimated.

Just when you thought there were no more plant identification guides to be written, Peterson's came out with this interesting little guide. In its pages you will find the many thousands of uses that numerous cultures have found for North American plants. From dubious cure-alls to modern cancer drugs, this guide describes them all, and their poisonous look alikes. If you already have Peterson's tree or wildflower guides, be prepared for a bit of Deja vu - there is considerable overlap in both text descriptions and illustrations. Also, don't set up your folk remedy pharmacy just yet - this book doesn't give dosage advice for the vast majority of species it describes. The authors are very strident in saying that this book is for information only, not clinical advice. That said, you will find innumerable fascinating tidbits of herbal lore between its covers.

I have just recently become interested in learning about the wild plants of my area and this book seems to be the most extensive resource about medicinal plants available. I like it because it is clear and concise, contains information on plant use and history, has color photographs to go with each entry, and includes poisonous look-a-likes and possible side effects of otherwise safe plants. I do, however, find the organization to be a bit confusing. For instance, it is simple to find the section on plants with yellow flowers, the pages are color coded, but difficult to differentiate between sections for button like composite flowers and dandelion like flowers. This results in a lot of time spent looking at pictures of yellow flowers. I much prefer the orginization of the Peterson Guide to Edible Wild Plants, which is similar but more clearly labled. I also think that the line pictures in that book have many benifits over the photographs contained in the medicinal plants field guide. The drawings offer well focused close up views from more than one angle if neccessary, this is not always possible with photos and a few pictures in the book are fuzzy. Overall I think that this is an excellent resource book.

Though I don't live in the eastern US and have rarely had a chance to do field botany when I have been there, this is a great little reference when I am researching herbs found in the eastern US. Again, Dr. Duke's and Mr. Foster's great knowledge and willingness to organize it for the rest of us is deeply appreciated.

I took it and used it. It's filled with great information. I only wish it had a quick plant look up structure where we can identify plants based on leaves and flowers. You know like one of those indexes that has a quick leaf and flower recognition tabs on the side. Either way a good research book and very indepth.

The best of its genre, and the standard in visual identification guides for field work and species' recognition. Almost every item is illustrated with color photographs, though I wish there were more images of each item, for year-round accurate ID. If I could afford to, I'd own the entire publication list of "A Field Guide To...". :-)

I'll share a secret to successful purchasing. I borrow books & titles I'm interested in buying, from local library--this has proven the BEST method for being sure one's needs & expectations are met, especially in non-fiction reference materials.

I have the old copy of their editable plants guide and when combined with this one, great!

The pics are in color but they lack detail for identifying.
Especially poisonous plants. Take poison hemlock, they tell you to be careful with look alikes, but their pics do not show the very suttle differances.
I use the editable plant guide for cross referance. That old book has black and white drawn diagrams and specifically points out identification marks.

The info in the medicinal plant guides is very good. They tell you approved uses and folk lore uses.

Overall a great book, shame the identifing aspect lacks some. That is the purpose of the book I would think! Its a field guide after all.

I dont regret buying it, I am glad I did. The info is great. But it sucks needing another book for identifying from pics!

It is obvious that the other reviewers haven't tried to use this book to do actual field research. I have Peterson's Edible Wild Plants, Eastern Trees, and Mushroom Guides. All three of those books were well done with focus on the unique traits of each plant. They have hand drawn pictures as well as photos with a complete description of each plant. This book has photos of plants mixed with other plants so you can't tell one from the other, has a photo of just one part of the plant, or no photo at all. The Yarrow looks like Poison Hemolck and the Sweet Grass is just the grass blades, no identifying traits at all. The descriptions are scant and half the time they don't know if the plant is poisonous or not "Warning: May be poisonous." And don't even try to use the cross-reference in the back for it is labor intensive. They don't tell you what the plants are truly good for but what the plants have been used for since the time of Adam. I have taken this book in the field 6 times and have not been able to positively identify a single plant without cross-referencing it with Peterson's Edible Wild Plant Guide. I was sorely disappointed with this book especially after using the other Peterson Guides. I don't know how they even consider this a field guide. It should be called "Medicinal Plants and Herbs Fun Facts But Don't Actually Use It Guide". The only thing it is good for is tricking others into thinking you know what you are doing.

First, I have to say, I bought this book from an Amazon.com seller,and am very satisfied with his customer service, my used book appeared to be new and he shipped faster than most amazon sellers do.

Unfortunately, the book is less informative than the older versions of this book. It's very basic information, helps identify plants around the yard, but the pictures are often times not detailed enough, or they show a leaf or flower only when you need to see the whole plant in better detail.

I found the guide very informative. My only complaint is that some of the pictures were so small you could not properly view all plants.