Edible and Medicinal Plants of the Rockies

For the basics on this great book, see Leslie Nelson's review -- it's spot on in describing its many strengths. I know nothing that touches it for Rockies edible & medicinal plants. Its pictures make gathering the most common plants quite easy, at least for someone used to identifying flowers, trees, bushes & other plants. Though for some plants, and if you're not used to identifying plants, I'd recommend getting a few other books for confirmation, such as Guennel's Guide to Colorado Wildflowers: Mountains (Guide to Colorado Wildflowers. Vol 2. Mountains) & Kershaw's "parent" wildflower book, Lone Tree's Plants of the Rocky Mountains. If you're not sure on identification, another couple of books often help. For your area -- mine is Colorado -- you might go to your local National Forest bookstore or a State Park bookstore. If you're actually planning to use these plants medicinally (which I do), you might want something like Phyllis Balch's Prescription for Herbal Healing: An Easy-to-Use A-Z Reference to Hundreds of Common Disorders and Their Herbal Remedies, which has no pictures, but has a lot more data on uses, limitations & warnings. I live on Pikes Peak and, during the season -- maybe April/May through October/November, I gather fresh greens, berries, bark, leaves, etc. on many, if not most days. I was raised with a grandmother who, back in Illinois, did much the same, which is how she helped feed a family during the Great Depression, 10 years before I was born. So I'm the "semi-serious" gatherer, who moved from Grandma to Euell Gibbons's Stalking The Wild Asparagus 35 years ago. (I learned to graze quite well, thank you, on the South Side of Chicago, much to the amusement & amazement of my friends.) As a start to playful or semi-serious gathering in the Rockies, this book cannot be beat. It helped me adjust from my midwestern gathering to gathering in my new home. It added to my knowledge of which medicinal plants here were available & useful. Although always, ALWAYS follow the rule: If you're not SURE, never put it in your mouth! But I have some minor (really minor) complaints: the book is weak in how and, especially, when to gather & prepare. For example, it talks about fireweed as a tea, both flowers & leaves, but it doesn't say whether this works with dried leaves & flowers or only fresh. And while the flower season is short, so any gathering time is obvious, when is the best time to gather the leaves -- young as they first come up or late in the season, after the flowering? Another minor complaint -- the book has a lot of Eurasian plants, whose uses are better documented, of course, and which are readily found in disturbed & more urban. But then it lacks any information on many really basic & common flowers, like, for instance, wild geraniums. (Infuriatingly, Kershaw does discuss, briefly, the uses of geraniums in her more general book -- VERY briefly.) For collecting & preparing medicinal

I bought the Edible and Medicinal Plants of the Rockies book when we moved to the Rocky Mountains and it has been indispensable. It is a well written reference guide with lots of information about each plant and great color photos to help you identify them. A must for anyone wanting to learn how to safely harvest wild foods in the Rockies.

We've used this book on every occasion we've been either hiking and camping and that is quite a lot. We've found all sorts of edibles that we normally wouldn't have eaten.

The first thing you notice about this book is its wonderfully sturdy construction. It is well made, ready to withstand some time in the woods with you! Next you will notice that it is color coded. The tree section is green, shrubs orange, herbs burgandy etc. Within each section the plants are divided by families. Each plant has at least one very good color photo. Most of them have two or three! Many also have illustrations. Some of the plants are covered in one page, others take two. A typical page is: Top of the Page: Mint Family Herbs The mint family is a two page spread with three nice photos. It says "Wild Mints Mentha spp." Then FOOD: These plants can be eaten alone as greens, raw or cooked. . . The next paragraph is MEDICINE: The active medicinal ingredient, menthol has been shown. . . OTHER USES: These aromatic plants were hung in dwellings as air-fresheners, and they were also crushed. . . DESCRIPTION: Glandular-dotted perenials, smelling strongly of mint. . .The Description section also included info on where the plant is likely to be found. In a colored box at the bottom of the page WARNING: Wild mint and spearmint are high in pulegone, which stimulates the uterus. . . Each plant includes information on poisonous look-likes if any, but there is also a full section on poisonous plants. The book also includes a glossary and an index. Because it is difficult for any one field guide to have EVERYTHING you are looking for, I like to use this book alongside Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide by Elias and Dykeman. I also really like Linda Kershaw's other book Plants of the Rocky Mountains.

The book has colour photographs for every plant listed, and all of the species are grouped according to family, for easy reference. Suggested preparations, identifying features and safety precautions are included for every plant in the book. There is a very important section on poisonous plants that every hiker/mountaineer should read. traditional Native medicinal uses are also listed. I take this book everywhere I go.