Edible Wild Plants: Eastern/Central North America (Peterson Field Guides) - COVER MAY VARY

I recently purchased this new updated version to replace my old one which I have used for many years. I have looked through many other edible plant and survival books which talk about edible plants, and this one is the one I wouldn't hesitate to give to anyone. A teacher I had years ago told our class, "Just remember this, if you are going to collect and eat any plant you are betting your life on the fact that you are identifying it correctly." At a later time I learned that a very well known mushroom hunter in my area misidentified a mushroom and ended up dying for his mistake. That made me more cautious than ever and I realized that this book seems to be one of the most thorough and accurate information about edible plants. Peterson Field Guides have always been top of the line, and this book is a glowing example of that.

Dear Seller, love your book it is a real survival benefit for everyone I would recommend it to everyone. It teaches of the plants that I have learned when I was a child such as the berries of blueberries, blackberries, raspberries,strawberries and even the wild grapes that grew abundantly all around us when my family and I grew up. we had apple trees but no one knew how to take care of them as i am now trying to learn how to take care of my few dwarf apple and cherry trees and i am still i the learning process.It teaches you poisonous plants to be ware of like our childhood experiences with Poison Ivy, Oak and Sumac however i never knew that Jewel weed grew near it and that it was the remedy or antidote to cure your ailments.It teaches some mushroom are eatable as others are poisonous. It also shows a lot of common plants that are eatable. There are even some flowers that today are known to be eatable as well as what I have researched thanks to the Scientific study proof . There were many of these that I just took for granted of the beauty that captured my eyes as well as my heart that we used to pick while my brothers and sisters walked along with me those few miles back and forth almost every day out to the Little Country store on the back roads behind our first high way. We would always just admire all the tiger Lilly's that grew along side the road as later in the future I showed that same road to my future husband while we were in the beginning of courting each other that took us off into another road that lead us through the sweet scent of the of the most beautiful wild Lilacs of many different colors which really set the the scenery of our love that only deepened of the paradise that we had found together along with all the memories of my childhood days that brought us to that day near that beautiful lake that we used to swim at where my best friend and I used to go when we met in 1976. It brought me back to the days of when I used to pick Wild Strawberries and Pussy Willows when I used to visit my friend who had a lot of cats and where my brothers would play ball down the ball field as I would stop in and sit on the bleachers and and catch the last inning cheering them on as I walked up the big hill on the opposite road cutting through a short cut while grabbing a few handful of sour Wild Grapes of my neighbors Grapevine that grew along that road that lead to my home of my Mom and dads house that lastly they would catch me snacking on their little Wild Blueberry bush as i would come home with a Pink Rose with in my hand as the sun would set before my curfew began. Then in the morning I would walk down by the old beach that was down fro us and I would just wade in the water as thoughts of my fiance would go through my head of the wonder memories that i shared with him of my childhood life yet my heart would be filled with the new memories that we had shared together with future memories that would be made together. Dreams from my first garden which was carrots to my wild berry picking that lead from the Tiger Lilly's from that little country store and back to that day of where my husband and I found that little Paradise with all the wonder scents of the Lilacs and other flower scents that would carry me through out my life of the many wonderful sites that we have been before we were even together and after where today flowers have even been discovered to be eatable as well as the many different herbs and plants that someone born from yesterday could only be capture by all their beauty.If only the children of today could have lived with in our life time and see and experience what we have experienced and appreciate what they have our children would not only know but feel all the love that has surrounded us for all those years however it is sad because in this modern day world of convenience they may only get to have a glimpse of our world and they can never understand. I am just glad that our son who is now 19 has that chance to at least learn of some of our ways of what he knows to be Organics but what was not know way back then. Thank again medicine Thank you again for this book that brings all those memories back to my husband, my family and me. I should write a book as my sons say that I have that potential because I have much more that could be told only I will save that for another time just get the book and you will see as I edit more to my true story. So I will catch you all later.medicine

A great reference. Very well organized and written.

This is a nice size for taking on foraging trips. However, as a complete novice I find it difficult to follow. The drawings of the plants are hard to really tell especially if you are afraid to pick something poisonous. The pictures in the center make you have to go back and forth. Ir would be better to have pictures with each plant at various stages of the year to be able to distinguish. The print is small of course to get all the information in, which is concise but enough for a field guide. I am not sure I would recommend this for a complete beginner, you really have to do your homework first before going out and just trying to use this guide. Otherwise, it is pretty compact and concise with good information about the properties and possible uses of the plants. The use of symbols helps to compact the information even more.

Tom Brown, Jr. recommends Peterson Guides for just about any kind of detailed flora/fauna information about the American northwest. This book arrived quickly and in perfect condition. It's easy to read, well-organized, and contains copious amounts of information. The sketches are excellent, and there are color photos in the middle of the book. The only thing that could make this book better would be full-color photos of every plant and plasticized, waterproof pages. I think that last might be asking too much, but I'd drop $50 for that if it were available. This book is compact, and will fit in the outside pocket of a medium ALICE pack and leave room for another book or two of the same dimensions. Measuers 7.25" x 4.5" x 0.75" if you need that information.

I looked at many other guides and all lack in some way. This one is the most well rounded and useful. Good quality pictures (some color, most black and white). Tons of plants described in detail. My favorite part is the guide to what type of plant you would find in "open fields, open woods, moist woods, swamps, bog, thickets, praries, etc." and what season you are in. Also if a poison plant is close in appearance to something you want to eat, how to tell the difference is actually life and death, and this book tells you. Some recipes and ideas for long term storage is also a nice feature. Pictures and descriptions together. I'm going to buy another (one for my go bag and one for the family to use anytime)

This book will be handy to take along on hikes for myself and grandchildren for identifying plants.

Excellent introduction and explanation of terms, organisation, methods, use, and sources. Organization is logical and easy to follow. Recommended reading and additional resources are extensive, making this a great starter for further study. Plant descriptions are a little cluttered, but that's an expected (and acceptable) compromise for the portable size of print. Overall an excellent starter guide for the region with basic terminology and imagery. I would prefer more actual photographs rather than illustrations, but given the original time of print this is an outstanding resource. The author clearly put a lot of time and effort into research and the academic-style introduction and inclusion of additional sources is very impressive. Great work!

An excellent book - full of information

The book is exactly what I was looking for as a quick field guide reference. I use this book when I am out in the field. The drawings are very helpful for plant ID and easy to follow. The pictures are stunning. I am not new to foraging or botany and this is a go to.

This book is the perfect size to take with on a hike and/or foraging adventure. It is easy to read, has detailed pictures, detailed descriptions as well as many local plants as i had hoped/the title suggested. I also like the blank notes pages at the end so that i can note the plants that i’ve seen around and would like to look for. I am very pleased with this purchase.

Its filled with plenty of useful information (wish there were more mushrooms) my only criticism is the book being 90% black and white. meaning theres a very small number of pages in the middle that are full color but even the color images are very difficult to tell, the lighting in the pictures are really off for some reason. but the nature of the book being black and white isn't that bad but it does make it quite difficult to tell very obvious characteristics of a plant right away cause you cant rely on the most obvious indicator of color to know if you're even looking at the right plant. So I'm half tempted to take some pencil crayons to the pages myself to fill in the missing color. either way, great field manual, already managed to identify half a dozen wild edibles just walking down my street. amazing how many weeds are edibles.

A nice small book that is thorough. In a marsh in the summer? It tells you marsh plants that grow in the summer. In an open field in fall? A list of plants that grow there in the fall is at your finger tips. It details how the plants can be used, toxic look alikes, and what they look like. Love this book!