Edible Plants: A Photographic Survey of the Wild Edible Botanicals of North America

by Jimmy Fike

Overview

For over a decade, artist Jimmy Fike traveled across the continental United States in an epic effort to photograph wild edible flora. Edible Plants is the culmination of that journey, featuring over 100 photographs that Fike has selectively colorized to highlight the comestible part of the plant.

While the images initially appear to be scientific illustrations or photograms from the dawn of photography when plants were placed directly on sensitized paper and exposed under the sun, a closer look reveals, according to Liesl Bradner of the Los Angeles Times, "haunting [and] eerily beautiful" photographs. Beyond instilling wonder, Fike's contemporary, place-based approach to landscape photography emphasizes our relationship to the natural world, reveals food sources, and encourages environmental stewardship. His clever and beautiful method makes it easy to identify both the specimen and its edible parts and includes detailed descriptions about the plant's wider purposes as food and medicine.

Sumptuously illustrated and delightfully informative, Edible Plants is the perfect gift for anyone curious about unlocking the secrets of native North American plants.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781684351718
Publisher:	Red Lightning Books
Publication date:	03/01/2022
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 11.60(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Jimmy W. Fike was born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1970. Even at an early age he showed a penchant for art and a love for exploring nature. He earned a BA in Art from Auburn University and an MFA in Photography from the Cranbrook Academy of Art. Fike's photographs have been exhibited extensively across the United States, published in the Washington Post, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, Mother Jones, and can be found in the permanent collections of the George Eastman Museum, St. Lawrence University, and the University of Alabama Birmingham. He currently lives in Phoenix, Arizona, with his daughter, Isobel, and dogs, Sallie and Scrappy, where he works as Residential Art Faculty at Estrella Mountain Community College.

Read an Excerpt

Manzanita, Arctostaphylos spp.
An evergreen shrub or small tree growing to twenty feet, found in dry sunny places like chaparral shrub lands, coastal scrublands and open forests in the western and southwestern United States. The shrub is identifiable by its red, smooth twisted branches and fruits that look like little apples turning from green to red as the season progresses. The greyish green leaves are leathery, oval and lighter in color on the underside. Its flowers are bell shaped, white to pink and hang in clusters of up to twenty. There are over one hundred species of manzanitas with most producing edible fruits and flowers. The ripe berries are sour but can be eaten raw, added to dishes and desserts or dried and ground for later use. The berries can be crushed and soaked in water to create a cider-like drink. The young flowers are sweet and can be used raw as an addition to salads or as a garnish. Traditionally, manzanita has been used to treat a number of medical conditions; colds, urinary tract infections, stomach aches, bronchitis, and poison ivy.

Sego Lily, Mariposa Lily, Calochortus nuttallii
A slender perennial herb growing to eighteen inches in height; found in woodlands, grasslands, sagebrush scrub, and on dry foothills along the Rocky Mountain corridor and into Utah and Nevada. Other similar species of mariposa lilies can be found throughout the western United States and are identical in edibility. Sego lily bulbs grow relatively deeply and are onion-like in appearance. Its leaves are few and grass like, mostly basal and clasping the thin stalk. The flowers are white to pale yellow with three petals and three sepals with hints of light purple or magenta with a yellow base, cup like in shape, but open, up to three inches across with one to four flowers per plant. Mariposa lilies were an important food source for many Native American tribes in the west. The flower petals can be eaten raw as a sweet trail nibble. The nutritious bulbs can be eaten raw, but are more commonly roasted, steamed or dried and ground for flour that can be added to breads or as a thickening agent in soups. Medicinally, it has been used to treat acne and aid in childbirth. These lilies are rare enough that harvesting should be done very conservatively to maintain healthy populations of this beautiful flower.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Foreword
Preface
Agoseris
Amaranth
American Lotus
American Speedwell
Angelica
Arrowleaf Balsamroot
Asparagus
Autumn Olive
Ballhead Waterleaf
Bedstraw
Bracken Fern
Broadleaf Plantain
Bugleweed
Burdock
California Poppy
Canadian Violet
Cattail
Chestnut Oak
Chia
Chickweed
Chiming Bells
Chokeberry
Clover
Cow Parsnip
Curly Dock
Dandelion
Desert Hollygrape
Desert Parsley
Desert Trumpet
Eastern Hemlock
Eastern White Pine
Echinacea
Elderberry
False Solomon's Seal
Field Mint
Field Pennycress
Filaree
Gill-of-the-Ground
Gingko
Ginseng
Glacier Lily
Gooseberry
Greenbrier
Ground Cherry
Heal All
Hedge Mustard
Henbit
Hibiscus
Hoary Mountain Mint
Hooker's Evening Primrose
Horehound
Indian Cucumber
Ithuriel's Spear
Jojoba
Juniper
Kentucky Coffee Tree
Lemonade Berry
Lemon Balm
Licorice
London Rocket
Man of the Earth
Manzanita
Marsh Mallow
Marsh Marigold
Mayapple
Mesquite
Miner's Lettuce
Mock Strawberry
Monkey Flower
Nettleleaf Goosefoot
Oxeye Daisy
Pale Touch-Me-Not
Palo Verde
Pawpaw
Pickerelweed
Pineapple Weed
Prickly Lettuce
Purslane
Raspberry
Salmon Berry
Sassafras
Sea Beans
Sego Lily
Sheep Sorrel
Shisho
Shooting Star
Silverweed
Skunk Cabbage
Soap Plant
Solomon's Seal
Spicebush
Springbeauty
Stone Crop
Sumac
Sunflower
Swamp Hedgenettle
Walnut
Wapato
Watercress
Water Lily
Wild Ginger
Wild Oats
Wild Oregano
Wild Radish
Wild Rhubarb
Wild Rose
Wintergreen
Wolfberry
Wood Nettle
Yampa
Yellowbells
Yellow Wood Sorrel
Yerba Santa

What People are Saying About This

Dee Swann

What is most striking about Jimmy Fike's work is his ability bring to life the spirit of a plant. He extrapolates the natural beauty of each individual part of the plant and weaves those parts together to bring to light the plant's true elegance. His works create a powerful, poetic connection between us and the plants that sustain us.

Todd P. Witcher

Jimmy W. Fike's book, Edible Plants: A Photographic Survey of the Wild Edible Botanicals of North America, is 218 pages of botanical pageantry. For those of us fascinated by and focused on wild edibles, and even those who are not, this book will become the gold standard for edible plants in North America. The history, details, and photography are breathtaking!

Editorial Reviews

"Jimmy W. Fike's book, Edible Plants: A Photographic Survey of the Wild Edible Botanicals of North America, is 218 pages of botanical pageantry. For those of us fascinated by and focused on wild edibles, and even those who are not, this book will become the gold standard for edible plants in North America. The history, details, and photography are breathtaking!"—Todd P. Witcher, Discover Life in America

"What is most striking about Jimmy Fike's work is his ability bring to life the spirit of a plant. He extrapolates the natural beauty of each individual part of the plant and weaves those parts together to bring to light the plant's true elegance. His works create a powerful, poetic connection between us and the plants that sustain us."—Dee Swann, Sr. Photo Editor for Digital Engagement, The Washington Post

"For the last 13 years, Fike has been photographing North America's edible flora. But instead of snapping pictures in the field, he carefully harvests the plants and takes them home to photograph. During the editing process, he only leaves a few splashes of color in the image to identify edible parts of the plant. With the plants pinned up like butterflies, the result is both vivid and somehow gruesome."—Anne Ewbank, Atlas Obscura

"This is an unusual and exceptionally engaging survey of edible plants. Hungry food foragers will carry it in the woods, and the images are wonderfully suitable for coffee-table enjoyment."—Art Lichtenstein, Booklist

"A simply gorgeous and sumptuously illustrated coffee-table style volume, Edible Plants: A Photographic Survey of the Wild Edible Botanicals of North America will prove to be a welcome and prized addition to personal, professional, community, college, and university library Contemporary Flora & Botanical Photography collections. . . . Edible Plants is especially commended to the attention of non-specialist general readers who are curious about unlocking the secrets of native North American plants through the expert commentaries that accompany each truly memorable and full color photograph."—James A. Cox, Midwest Book Review

"Edible Plants: A Photographic Survey of the Wild Edible Botanicals of North America by Jimmy W. Fike is a lovely book illustrating the art and science of photography and nature, specifically using edible plants as subjects."—Jim Chatfield, Akron Beacon Journal

"These striking photographs seek to inform, similar to the horticultural photography and illustrations of eras past, perhaps making foragers of us all. But what's more, they are painstakingly beautiful. This book would make an impressive gift for the naturalist in your life. (starred review)"—Susannah Felts, Bookpage

"Edible Plants: A Photographic Survey of the Wild Edible Botanicals of North America is a gorgeous book: page after page of photographs of plants posed against a black background, silver-white with highlights in full color, worthy of pride of place on the coffee table. This book would make a great gift for someone fascinated by nature, or who admires art and composition, or preferably both. The photos are almost otherworldly, but grounded in the world around us. I recommend taking a long, slow afternoon to gaze at them, and then go for a walk to find what's growing between the cracks in the sidewalk in your neighborhood."—Erica H. Smith, Washington Gardener

From the Publisher

What is most striking about Jimmy Fike's work is his ability bring to life the spirit of a plant. He extrapolates the natural beauty of each individual part of the plant and weaves those parts together to bring to light the plant's true elegance. His works create a powerful, poetic connection between us and the plants that sustain us.

Dee Swann

A simply gorgeous and sumptuously illustrated coffee-table style volume, Edible Plants: A Photographic Survey of the Wild Edible Botanicals of North America will prove to be a welcome and prized addition to personal, professional, community, college, and university library Contemporary Flora & Botanical Photography collections. . . . Edible Plants is especially commended to the attention of non-specialist general readers who are curious about unlocking the secrets of native North American plants through the expert commentaries that accompany each truly memorable and full color photograph.

Midwest Book Review - James A. Cox

Edible Plants: A Photographic Survey of the Wild Edible Botanicals of North America by Jimmy W. Fike is a lovely book illustrating the art and science of photography and nature, specifically using edible plants as subjects.

Akron Beacon Journal - Jim Chatfield

These striking photographs seek to inform, similar to the horticultural photography and illustrations of eras past, perhaps making foragers of us all. But what's more, they are painstakingly beautiful. This book would make an impressive gift for the naturalist in your life. (starred review)

Bookpage - Susannah Felts

Jimmy W. Fike's book, Edible Plants: A Photographic Survey of the Wild Edible Botanicals of North America, is 218 pages of botanical pageantry. For those of us fascinated by and focused on wild edibles, and even those who are not, this book will become the gold standard for edible plants in North America. The history, details, and photography are breathtaking!

Todd P. Witcher

This is an unusual and exceptionally engaging survey of edible plants. Hungry food foragers will carry it in the woods, and the images are wonderfully suitable for coffee-table enjoyment.

Booklist - Art Lichtenstein

Edible Plants: A Photographic Survey of the Wild Edible Botanicals of North America is a gorgeous book: page after page of photographs of plants posed against a black background, silver-white with highlights in full color, worthy of pride of place on the coffee table. This book would make a great gift for someone fascinated by nature, or who admires art and composition, or preferably both. The photos are almost otherworldly, but grounded in the world around us. I recommend taking a long, slow afternoon to gaze at them, and then go for a walk to find what's growing between the cracks in the sidewalk in your neighborhood.

Washington Gardener - Erica H. Smith

For the last 13 years, Fike has been photographing North America's edible flora. But instead of snapping pictures in the field, he carefully harvests the plants and takes them home to photograph. During the editing process, he only leaves a few splashes of color in the image to identify edible parts of the plant. With the plants pinned up like butterflies, the result is both vivid and somehow gruesome.

Atlas Obscura - Anne Ewbank