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Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs [Paperback]

Claire Kowalchik , William H. Hylton
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)

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Book Description

January 15, 1998
Discover a trove of herbal knowledge.

Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs is a virtually endless source of useful information and herbal know-how. Presented in an A-to-Z format, supplemented with easy-to-use charts and lists, beautifully illustrated with drawings and color photographs, it is the only book on herbs you ever need to buy.

More than 1 MILLION copies sold!

Frequently Bought Together

Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs + Your Backyard Herb Garden: A Gardener's Guide to Growing Over 50 Herbs Plus How to Use Them in Cooking, Crafts, Companion Planting and More + The Cook's Herb Garden
Price for all three: $46.55

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This excellent reference is thorough, easy to use and fully illustrated with black-and-white sketches of individual plants and color photographs. More than 140 herbs are discussed in alphabetical order, including history, uses and cultivation. The uses of herbs are further explored in chapters on bathing, dyes, gardening, cooking, healing and cosmetics. Abundant recipes proffer food and drinks, perfumes, toilet waters, poultices and medicinal syrups. While the authors are enthusiastic about the healing properties of herbs, they caution readers not to treat themselves for serious ailments, and provide information on dangerous plants and abuse of common, generally safe herbs. They also report recent studies and controversies such as that surrounding comfrey, a popular healing herb that has been found to cause liver disease in rats. Instructions for planting different types of herb gardens and a brief, general history of herbsfrom their use by the ancient Chinese to the American colonistsround out the book. Kowalchik and Hylton are Rodale editors.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

An excellent reference on the legend, history, culture, and use of popular herbs. Since it has few color photographs, this is a good companion to The Random House Book of Herbs (above), which has many more pictures but far less information. (LJ 11/15/87)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 545 pages
  • Publisher: Rodale Books; Reprint edition (January 15, 1998)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 087596964X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0875969640
  • Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 0.9 x 9.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #283,517 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
(47)
4.7 out of 5 stars
This is a great reference book when trying to identify herbs, growing them, as well as using them. K. Serratos  |  20 reviewers made a similar statement
The pictures are very nice and in color. Anne Green  |  3 reviewers made a similar statement
I am a professional horticulturist who provides advice to commercial growers. J Davis  |  2 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
87 of 91 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource.... November 4, 2000
Format:Paperback
No matter how hard I search, I've yet to find the "perfect" book on herb use and herb growing. This book isn't perfect, but it does have some real strengths.

Rodale's ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HERBS is organized in a strange way--everything, and I mean everything--falls into alphabetical order. For example, "Gardening with Herbs falls between "Foxgloves" and "Garlic" and "Growing Herbs" falls between "Grindellia" and "Hawthorn."

The book is printed on semi-gloss paper so it will stand up to use and not crumble in a few years. Each entry contains line drawing illustrations and a few sections of the book are highlighted with color photos.

The plant profiles are succinct, covering topics such as 'history', 'cultivation' and 'uses.' Many entries contain material from other sources such as Maud Grieves' A MODERN HERBAL Vols. 1-2. Some information is repeated without attribution or verification. I always find "They say" and "It is thought" offputting, while I appreciate direct citations of which there are many in this book.

THE ENCYCLOPEDIA covers some topics not readily found in other books. The most useful of these is a compendium discussing the "Dangers of Herbs" (located between "Dandelion" and "Deadly Nightshade." The editors have compiled the FDA listing of "tricky" herbs (could kill or cure depending on use) from PREVENTION magazine, as well as similar ratings from James Duke's CRC HANDBOOK OF MEDICINAL HERBS, Jean Rose's HERBS AND THINGS, and Varro Tyler's THE HONEST HERBAL. You realize on reading this section that everything is relative.

The biggest problem with the misuse of herbal remedies is the misclassification of plants by the practicioner. To be an herbal healer one simply must understand botany. The second biggest problem is conflicting information about what a plant will or will not do based on singular accounts (which could be the result of a misclassification of plants or a misapplication of the plant extract). The third problem is idiosyncratic plant and human interaction. One man's poison can be another man's elixer. As with synthetic drugs, each individual has a unique chemical compostion and the herb in question may or may not be effective, or in some cases may provoke an allergy. Of course, there are some herbs that are downright deadly as every mystery reader knows.

This wouldn't be a Rodale book with out a section on "Pests" and "Pest Control" or the synergistic and conflicting effects of various plant combinations in the garden. This information and the sections on poisonous attributes make the book worth it's cost. All I can say about plant combinations can be summed up to this...plant catnip. You'll have to read the book to find out which kind.

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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Conservative, alphabetical reference for the most common, useful herbs. Includes history, safety, cultivation, medicinal, and culinary uses for each. Includes special chapters on healing, cooking and gardening with herbs as well as toxicity as compared to caffeine. Color and black & white pictures, highly recommended and often consulted; one of the best.
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars best book on herbs i have found November 10, 1999
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
This book covers all the bases: harvesting, storing, cooking, sachets, medicinal uses.... on and on. I've used mine so much it is falling apart! I bought this book years ago for over $26 and it was worth it then! Its a steal now!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs
It helps to have a reference book to reinforce information about the different herbs. It also offers a lot of general information.
Published 16 days ago by Janet Downey
5.0 out of 5 stars A must have!!!
This Book very informative and I would recommend this item for those interested.

A MUST have!!!
I can not say anymore about this item but YES, YES, YES
Published 1 month ago by Rico
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Actually I bought this years ago for myself and got this for a friend; she loves it also! It is a GREAT guide book!
Published 1 month ago by Kathi707
5.0 out of 5 stars Helpful for any just starting to learn about herbs
I thinks this book is a great introduction to herbs, I have just began my study and I found a lot of useful information about herbs in here. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Barbara Owens
5.0 out of 5 stars wish it was in color
the drawings of the herbs are okay but full color photos would make it mush easier to identify the actual plants.
Published 3 months ago by Darlene Irwin
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Big book with lots of information regarding herbs and their uses. Medicinal and in food and tea. Lots of info
Published 3 months ago by Donna G. Harmon
5.0 out of 5 stars great
great ,the best herb book I own, I had to replace it with this newer book I learned alot reading this
Published 3 months ago by Linda Riley
5.0 out of 5 stars BEST BOOK EVER
I got bored inside a cabin i was staying at, so i went to the bookshelf and took this book out. i immediatly was mesmorized by the illustrations and amazed at the content. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Hayley
4.0 out of 5 stars Good But With Some Problems
I wanted one book on herbs that I could use for both culinary and medicinal herb reference. I seem to like books published by Rodale so I picked this one up without hardly looking... Read more
Published 3 months ago by catamount
5.0 out of 5 stars Herbs...
I take this book to different exotic stores selling herbs and learn right on the spot about different herbs. Read more
Published 4 months ago by NYFB
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