Book on identifying plants?

H

Hotrod

Joined
Mar 19, 2003
Messages
978
Hey guys...

Any good books that have pictures and detailed descriptions of edible plants? I've thumbed through a few that are real skimpy! Heard whispers that there might be a book out there that has the plants in different stages of development! :cool:

Anything that does the whole US/North America... or are they all picking a couple states?

Hope yall know what I'm looking for...

Thanks :D
 
I've found are the Peterson "Guide to Edible Plants", broken down into Eastern and Western states to be helpful.

A lot of good pics.
 
I like the Peterson guide too. Its laid out fairly well and reasonably easy to determine what plant you're looking at. It also points out which plants are poisonous and which edible plants have similarities to poisonous ones.

I don't know what your background is, or what kind of experience you have, but if you haven't done much with edible plants, I'd strongly suggest you seek out someone who has some knowledge and spend some time with them. Variation within a species can cause erroneous identification unless (sometimes even if) you have some experience with the species in question. Water hemlock and wild parsnip come to mind. They look very much alike and grow in similar habitat but water hemlock will kill you very quickly.

Anyway check out the Peterson guide (and at least one other -- I like to cross reference), but nothing takes the place of "dirt time" with an experienced teacher.
 
I can agree with you there... finding a mentor is definetly the fastest way to learn something.

Thanks for the reference, I'll try and find a copy :D
 
My favorite is:

Edible Wild Plants:A North American Field Guide
by Thomas Elias and Peter Dykeman

An Outdoor Life Book

The high quality color photos make it great for identification.
 
I agree with the books already mentioned and would like to add the following.

Field Guide to Edible Wild plants by Bradford Angier Has some excellent color drawings.

The complete Guide to Edible Wild Plants, Mushrooms, Fruits, and Nuts by Katie Letcher Lyle. Has black and white drawings and some color plates.

I also agree with the advice to find a mentor. I know there is not always someone around to guide you. Something I suggest if you are alone is to get at least 2 if not more guide books that do not list each other as reference Material. Do a search for Wildman Steve Brill and check out his web site. There is also a message board call Forageahead. Hope some of this helps.

Jim
 
I have found that I end up taking five or six books at a time with me in the field because there is so much to know and understand about each plant.

Authores write about their favorite plants the most, glossing over or even less with others.

This gives me a good mix to figure out more than just the one or two uses that come from only one source..

Another way I do research into plants is to take pictures of the plant, then I don't have to carry all of the reading material, then I can use all my resources, including a search of other utilities of the plant on the internet...

Russ..
 
That comment about the camera is a great one. Digital cameras especially are great learning tools, since you don't have to wait to develop pictures, and since there's no film it doesn't cost anything (once you have the camera) to take the pictures, and as Elkchsr says, you can then use all your resources for identification at your lesure. Just make sure the camera can take good close-ups.
 
Good idea on the camera...

I've got what appears to be a mulberry bush in my back yard... it actually looks more like a mulberry tree though. Is the test still keeping a piece of a berry in the corner of a mouth for a half hour? (Think thats what I remember from scouts...)
 
I would be careful about putting some things in my mouth for a half hour that I don't know what they are...

For example there are some Laurels that have been planted around residentials over the last 100 plus years that are extremely toxic, one is the Portuguese Laurel, the derivatives of the berries on this plant is an ingredient in the mix they use in the gas chambers here in the U.S. :)
 
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