General Books

The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World

Michael Pollan

Amazon Price: $10.20 List Price: $15.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Random House Trade Paperbacks Amazon Marketplace: 126 new & used starting at $6.14

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Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Professional Science -> Biological Sciences -> Botany
Subjects -> Science -> Biological Sciences -> Botany -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 165 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Great Idea, Horrible Result 1 out of 5 stars.
3 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Mr Pollan had a great idea for a book--evolution of 4 different species of well know plants from the plant's perspective as influenced by humans. There's about 30 pages of good information to this end. The rest is horribly long and painful unrelated tangents that he clearly enjoys writing about, but have absolutely nothing to do with the subject. For instance, in covering apples he talks for freggen ever about John Chapaman, aka Johnny Appleseed. Who cares about Appleseed's sexual frustrations with a potential 10 year old bride??? Who cares about his love of sleeping in hollowed out logs, or on the snow if sleeping in the log would disturb some insects??? If you're ridiculously bored and don't mind reading about random garbage you might like this book. If you're looking for enlightenment on this subject or like a well executed book, don't even think about this one.

Editorial Review:

Every schoolchild learns about the mutually beneficial dance of honeybees and flowers: The bee collects nectar and pollen to make honey and, in the process, spreads the flowers’ genes far and wide. In The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan ingeniously demonstrates how people and domesticated plants have formed a similarly reciprocal relationship. He masterfully links four fundamental human desires—sweetness, beauty, intoxication, and control—with the plants that satisfy them: the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato. In telling the stories of four familiar species, Pollan illustrates how the plants have evolved to satisfy humankind’s most basic yearnings. And just as we’ve benefited from these plants, we have also done well by them. So who is really domesticating whom?

The Forager's Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants

Samuel Thayer

Amazon Price: $15.61 List Price: $22.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Forager's Harvest Press Amazon Marketplace: 35 new & used starting at $14.46

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 24 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

It fills the void! 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This book is unique in that it fills a big void in the other wild edible books out there. This void is filled mainly by the chapters entitled "Harvest and Preparation Methods for Wild Plant Foods" and "Storing Wild Foods". Thayer wrote this book with his experience and not what he has compiled from other books like so many others. It covers only 32 plants but they are very useful plants and it covers them in detail. I agree with other reviewers in that the book may only cover plants that are more common in the eastern U.S. but the author makes recommendations for other books that will cover what his book does not...and I can vouch that his recommendations are worth while. Great pictures, a useful glossary and the verbal content is not only an enjoyable read but overwhelmingly informative. Despite the fact that this book is a softcover, the quality of the pages and binding will seemingly make it a durable guide for field use and the repeated referencing I intend to give it. Regardless of where you live, if you are a serious forager or survival enthusiast your library should not be without this book!

Editorial Review:

A practical guide to all aspects of edible wild plants: finding and identifying them, their seasons of harvest, and their methods of collection and preparation. Each plant is discussed in great detail and accompanied by excellent color photographs. Includes an index, illustrated glossary, bibliography, and harvest calendar. The perfect guide for all experience levels.

A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants: Eastern and central North America (Peterson Field Guides (R))

Amazon Price: $12.92 List Price: $19.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Houghton Mifflin Amazon Marketplace: 42 new & used starting at $8.15

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 23 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Up to the usual Peterson Field Guides standards 4 out of 5 stars.
12 of 14 people found this review helpful.

Although this book is well written and organized, I have one minor complaint...

If you are going to depend on a book to decide whether or not you can eat something without poisoning yourself, the pictures next to the plant descriptions ought to be in color rather than black and white sketches.

Would be good if not for the printing error 3 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This is an awesome book, but there was obviously a printing error in the copy I bought. An entire chunk of pages has been repeated and a whole 'nother chunk is missing.

My only other complaint is that it'd be nice if these field guides had color photos all the way through. I know that makes the book more expensive but it also makes it more *useful*. Black-and-white drawings only convey so much.

Editorial Review:

More than 370 edible wild plants, plus 37 poisonous look-alikes, are described here, with 400 drawings and 78 color photographs showing precisely how to recognize each species. Also included are habitat descriptions, lists of plants by season, and preparation instructions for 22 different food uses.

Mushrooms Demystified: A Comprehensive Guide to the Fleshy Fungi

David Arora

List Price: $39.95 By: Ten Speed Pr Amazon Marketplace: 3 new & used starting at $64.58

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 48 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Mushrooms Demystified 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Excellent guide, however primarily for western states. Could easily be used as a college textbook, but easy enough for a novice to use.

good condition, good shipping time 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Everything went smoothly with this transaction. I bought it used; it seems brand new except for some rather deliberate-looking permanent marker dashes on the unbound sides of the book (on the page tips, whatever that's called). Shipping time was on the fast side of the range of days.

This is an advanced text 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I have owned this book for many years; and, through may hunts, it has proven invaluble for classifying mushrooms into their proper categories. However, I would caution buyers to know something about mycology BEFORE they buy this book! This is an area which requires experience!
David Auora is a mycological authority, and this is mostly written to the WEST COAST varietals and people who are familair with the basics.

While the variations from the west coast to the east coast are similar, the differences are what can kill you!

Remember, mushroom hunting and identification can be DEADLY!

This book arms you only with enough information to get you in the ball park unless you are an experienced hunter with many varieties.

Excellent reference, but not for the beginner!

Editorial Review:

Simply the best and most complete mushroom field guide and reference book, with over 950 photographs.

National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees--W: Western Region (National Audubon Society Field Guides)

Elbert L. Little

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 43 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A few comments 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This is the companion volume to the western trees edition. Having been able to spend some time on the east coast for the first time since I was a boy, I found I could only identify a handful of species, so I bought this book to see what I could identify, being familiar mostly with the west coast.

The Audubon books main strengths are in combining excellent photos of the main parts of the tree, the flowers or cones, branches, and bark, to aid in identifying the tree. Curiously, the book doesn't include photos of the entire tree, but in the text section there are drawings next to the description. This is okay too, and an expert dendrologist can often simply ID a tree from its "stature type." With a little experience with the trees in your area, you'll soon be doing the same.

I've found the Audubon books on plant identification very helpful, but I have to say I have some formal training in botany, mainly in plant taxonomy, which is a big help. The only real sure way to ID a plant is by using the formal key, but in an area where the species are limited, which is usually the case with trees in temperate zones, a picture type book can often do the trick. Just be aware that there are many pitfalls in not using the actual botanical key. (If this were the Amazon rainforest, there can be 400 species of trees in a few acres, so this approach wouldn't work).

This book uses a leaf classification key mainly, and has 10 pages devoted to flowering plants and conifers at the beginning of the book to point to the the relevant section. From there you basically leaf through that section to ID the tree. For the flowering trees, color information is provided too.

The text descriptions are brief but well done, and includes information on range, ecology, height and diameter, size of cones, leaves, and flowers, color, and uses. Overall, it's another useful and informative guide from Audobon done in the style which many people are familiar with for naturalist use, or just your casual cursiosity seeker who wants to learn more about these important plants.

By the way, for some excellent and brief key books for the west coast, look for Glen Keator's little books, which are available at bookstores and also at the Strybing Auboretum in Golden Gate Park. Glen had a Ph.D. in taxonomic botany and was the trainer for the docents in the park, also, if I remember right, and I have fond memories of spending many hours hiking while using his books, which became an invaluable aid in my undergraduate and graduate botanical education.

Editorial Review:

All 933 identification pictures are full-color photos of significant details of virtually all native trees and many cultivated species as you see them in their natural habitat.

National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms (National Audubon Society Field Guides)

Gary H. Lincoff

Amazon Price: $14.25 List Price: $20.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Knopf Amazon Marketplace: 56 new & used starting at $11.00

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 29 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Worst mushroom book ever seen 1 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Don't buy it, it's a useless book, why a book without scientific names can work, the paper look like a pocket bible, amazon put this book as it were important but shouldn't be there.

These things are addictive. 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I love these field guides! The photographs are fantastic, and are easy to navigate for quick identification. We enjoy looking at these books even when we aren't out scouting for new things to identify.

Editorial Review:

With more than 700 mushrooms detailed with color photographs and descriptive text, this is the most comprehensive photographic field guide to the mushrooms of North America. The 762 full-color identification photographs show the mushrooms as they appear in natural habitats. Organized visually, the book groups all mushrooms by color and shape to make identification simple and accurate in the field, while the text account for each species includes a detailed physical description, information on edibility, season, habitat, range, look-alikes, alternative names, and facts on edible and poisonous species, uses, and folklore. A supplementary section on cooking and eating wild mushrooms, and illustrations identifying the parts of a mushroom, round out this essential guide.

A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs: Of Eastern and Central North America (Peterson Field Guides(R))

James A. Duke, Steven Foster, James Duke

List Price: $30.00 By: Houghton Mifflin Amazon Marketplace: 7 new & used starting at $18.50

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

MUST HAVE in yoru library 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is another book I am constantly referencing. It is small enough to pack in your backpack or coat pocket if you want to identify plants in the wild.
Steven Foster also provides clear photographs to make it far easier to determine the plants.

The descriptions are good and have helped me several times identify plants in my region.

Editorial Review:

At a time when interest in herbs and natural medicine has never been higher, the second edition of this essential guide shows how to identify more than five hundred kinds of healing plants. More than three hundred new color photos illustrate their flowers, leaves, and fruits. The updated descriptive text includes information on where the plants are found as well as their known medicinal uses. An index to medical topics is helpful for quickly locating information on specific ailments, from asthma and headaches to colds and stomachaches. Symbols next to plant descriptions give readers a quick visual alert to plants that are poisonous or may cause allergic reactions. Organized by plant color for fast identification, this guide is an indispensable tool for understanding the traditional medicinal uses of the plants and herbs around us.

Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not So Wild) Places

Steve Brill

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 32 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not So Wild) Places shows readers how to find and prepare more than five hundred different plants for nutrition and better health, including such common plants as mullein (a tea made from the leaves and flowers suppresses a cough), stinging nettle (steam the leaves and you have a tasty dish rich in iron), cattail (cooked stalks taste similar to corn and are rich in protein), and wild apricots (an infusion made with the leaves is good for stomach aches and disgestive disorders).

More than 260 detailed line drawings help readers identify a wide range of plants -- many of which are suited for cooking by following the more than thirty recipes included in this book. There are literally hundreds of plants readily available underfoot waiting to be harvested and used either as food or as a potential therapeutic. This book is both a field guide to nature's bounty and a source of intriguing information about the plants that surround us.

Remarkable Trees of Virginia

Nancy Ross Hugo

Amazon Price: $26.37 List Price: $39.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: University of Virginia Press Amazon Marketplace: 20 new & used starting at $26.36

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

This stunning collaboration between the noted garden writer Nancy Ross Hugo and the photographer Robert Llewellyn showcases the fruits of an effort begun in 2004 to research, locate, and photograph Virginia's most remarkable trees. Four years later, more than one thousand trees had been officially nominated to the project and many others suggested for possible inclusion. The results, presented in this elegant, four-color volume, are astounding. Hugo and Kirwan, the project coordinators, have selected a sample of trees and "tree places" that illustrate the enormous variety, startling beauty, and fascinating history of Virginia's trees. Here you will see, through Llewellyn's incomparable lens, not only some of Virginia's largest trees, including a newly discovered national champion overcup oak in Isle of Wight County, but also some of the state's oldest, including baldcypress trees over 800 years old in Southampton County and red cedars over 450 years old in Giles. You will find unique trees like a willow oak in which a tricycle is embedded, fine specimens like the massive American beech in front of Sleepy Hollow Methodist Church in Falls Church, and outrageously shaped trees, like the water tupelos in the Cypress Bridge area of Southampton County. You will find trees associated with famous people and events as well as trees associated with ordinary people in extraordinary ways. Perhaps best of all, you will learn about communities that have gone to great lengths to protect their trees and about places where the public can visit some of the best trees and "treescapes" in the state.

Remarkable Trees of Virginia is a celebration of trees, but it doesn't dodge hard issues. In a section on urban forests, the authors describe the major problems facing trees in urban areas and point out strategies urban foresters are using to solve them. They describe the ecological services trees provide and issue a call for action both to protect trees in their existing habitats and to find more places where trees can "grow large and long."

Hugo, Kirwan, and Llewellyn present a treasury of Virginia's trees that is, indeed, remarkable.

Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens

Douglas W. Tallamy

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Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The pressures on wildlife populations today are greater than they have ever been and many gardeners assume they can remedy this situation by simply planting a variety of flowering perennials, trees, and shrubs. As Douglas Tallamy points out in this revelatory book, that assumption is largely mistaken. Wild creatures exist in a complex web of interrelationships, and often require different kinds of food at different stages of their development.

There is an unbreakable link between native plant species and native wildlife. When native plant species disappear, the insects disappear, thus impoverishing the food source for birds and other animals. Fortunately, there is still time to reverse this alarming trend, and gardeners have the power to make a significant contribution toward sustainable biodiversity. By favoring native plants, gardeners can provide a welcoming environment for wildlife of all kinds.

Healthy local ecosystems are not only beautiful and fascinating, they are also essential to human well-being. By heeding Douglas Tallamy's eloquent arguments and acting upon his recommendations, gardeners everywhere can make a difference.