Peterson Field Guide To Medicinal Plants & Herbs Of Eastern & Central N. America: Third Edition

by Steven Foster, James A. Duke

Overview

Peterson

The best-selling field guides of all time

Medicinal plants are increasingly well regarded as supplements and sometimes as alternatives for prescription drugs. Steven Foster and James A. Duke have used recent advances in the study of medicinal plants and their combined experience of over 100 years to completely update the Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. The clear and concise text identifies the key traits, habitats, uses, and warnings for more than 530 of the most significant medicinal plants in the eastern and central United States and Canada including both native and alien species. Seven hundred plus images, the organization-by-color system, and simplified warnings make identifying medicinal plants fast and easy.

Sponsored by the National Audubon Society, the National Wildlife Federation, and the Roger Tory Peterson Institute

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780547943985
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	04/08/2014
Series:	Peterson Field Guides
Edition description:	Third Edition
Pages:	480
Sales rank:	68,187
Product dimensions:	4.50(w) x 7.20(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

With more than 40 years of experience in the herbal field, Steven Foster is author, co-author, and photographer of seventeen books. He lives in Eureka Springs Arkansas, in the heart of the medicinal plant-rich Ozarks.

With more than six decades of experience as a botanist, and three decades in medical botany James A. Duke is the author of more than 20 books. He lives in Fulton, Maryland, surrounded by some 300 medicinal plants.

Editorial Reviews

05/15/2014
Is there a reason to purchase this edition if you already own the 2000 second edition? Emphatically, yes. First, a very off-putting font printed on extremely glossy paper (try reading that in a sunny meadow while determining which member of the parsley family you are thinking of gathering) has been replaced with a clearer font on crisp, white matte paper. Then, the preface, which starts with a slight rearrangement of the second edition text, suddenly heads down a new path, discussing developments in herbal medicine during the last 14 years. Updates are also included in the manual for using the book, particularly on the subject of scientific and family names. Many of the photographs are the same as in the old edition, but many new ones have been added, too, lending clarity to the botanist seeking, say, Clammy Ground Cherry (potentially toxic), Parlin's Pussytoes (for use in a tea for coughs), or Spotted Pipsissewa (said to be a skin irritant.) A substantial number of species accounts, which contain a basic description, possible location, remarks and warnings, have been rewritten or expanded. Some are more tightly detailed, as in the entry for Rattlesnake Master, which previously said "American Indians used the root…" but now offers the specific "Cherokee and Creek Indians…." Some entries are completely new and others have been dropped. The glossary and the list of botanical terms have been lengthened, and a historical bibliography is included as well as the current references. (The index to plants and that to medical topics were not seen). The Life List has been eliminated. Budding herbalists should pay strict attention to the printed warnings and remember that natural plant medicines can vary widely in potency, unlike the carefully measured chemicals of a pharmaceutical company. VERDICT A hefty handbook to haul over marsh and meadow, but invaluable to searchers and researchers alike.—Patricia Manning, formerly with Eastchester P.L., NY

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