Product Description
This definitive book represents the life's work of the late Richard Evans Schultes, one of the fathers of modern ethnobotany and the greatest plant explorer of our age, including nearly 50 years of field research in the Northwest Amazon. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Entheogens: Professional Listing
"The Healing Forest" has been selected for listing in "Religion and Psychoactive Sacraments: An Entheogen Chrestomathy." http://www.csp.org/chrestomathy

Excellent
Technical, but excellent. Photos are stunning ... Read more

Product Description
Detailed descriptions of 154 commonly cultivated or naturally growing plants found in the wild or landscaping. A good book to have in the home or on hikes. ... Read more

Product Description
With this book you will discover a variety of common weeds with uncommon stories, sinister plants with deadly reputations, and friendly vegetables disguised as weeds. Over 50 detailed drawings will help you identify these plants which grow in both urban and natural areas of Northern California.

Learn how to use dandelions as a coffee substitute, how to make a gourmet salad out of "weeds," how to eat a pinecone or cactus, and much more! This is a great book to enhance anyone's pleasure of California outdoors. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A good introduction, but by no means comprehensive
This is an interesting introduction to various weeds and plants (not mushrooms) that you can forage for anywhere from common suburbia to the backcountry trails. I enjoyed it, and Wiltens' illustrations are clear black-and-white field sketches. The book has no photographs, but in plant identification, photographs only tell part of the story and don't let you highlight or emphasize a particular feature of a plant, like the "tiny hairs" that the observer must identify to know the difference between an edible tasty plant and hemlock. It's not comprehensive-- Wiltens even says as much in the introduction, insisting that readers should positively ID against three different field guides (though without recommending any reputable ones), and being a slim volume means it's good for carrying in a backpack, but can't provide all the details. I think a section on common preparations would have made the volume more concise, instead of breaking it down and repeating instructions for leaching for each plant needing it (for instance).

Meet Your Friends and Enemies of the Plant Kingdom
James Wiltens has carefully chosen 60 or so of plants found in Northern California that can easily be identified by beginning naturalists and botanists as edible or poisonous plants. Each plant covered in the bookincludes information about where to find it, how to prepare and eat it (oravoid it), as well as interesting trivia about some of the species. Wiltenshas also included a drawing of each plant, noting its key identificationfeatures. Be sure to read Wiltens' introduction, covering the do's anddon'ts and safety of flower collecting! ... Read more

Product Description
All around us there are wild plants good for food, medicine, clothing, and shelter, but most of us don't know how to identify or use them. Delena Tull amply supplies that knowledge in this book, one of the first focused specifically on plants that grow in Texas and surrounding regions of the South and Southwest. Extensively illustrated with black-and-white drawings and color photos, this book includes the following special features:∑ Recipes for foods made from edible wild plants.∑ Wild teas and spices.∑ Wild plant dyes, with instructions for preparing the plants and dying wool, cotton, and other materials.∑ Instructions for preparing fibers for use in making baskets, textiles, and paper.∑ Information on wild plants used for making rubber, wax, oil, and soap. ∑ Information on medicinal uses of plants.∑ An identification guide to hay fever plants and plants that cause rashes.∑ Instructions for distinguishing edible from poisonous berries.∑ Detailed information on poisonous plants, including poison ivy, oak, and sumac, as well as herbal treatments for their rashes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

A Disappointment
I was so looking forward to receiving this book!The title led me to believe it was exactly what I was needing.Alas, not so!This book is crammed with somewhat random information and might be very appealing to those looking for help with natural fibers and dyes, but I wanted details on edible and medicinal wild plants of Texas and this book is a very poor reference guide for that purpose.An appalling lack of photographs and only average black and white line drawings make it almost useless as an aid in field identification.It is not well organized from a practical standpoint and only if you already know the name of the plant (why would I need such a book if I already knew?) is it easy to find.Directions for harvest and use are sketchy, at best.Sadly I must say I do not recommend it.

Good book for Texas
This book goes into really great detail on the use of a few of the plants in Texas. For someone living in Texas and wanting to find edible plants, there are better books. This book, however, would be really useful to people interested in how the local Native Americans lived and survived in Texas or someone wishing to be self sufficient in the region. A good, general reference.

Don't waste your time
This book has no redeming value as a guide for anything other than natural dyes. It is poorly illustrated, relying on description rather than photographs except for a few color plates that are poorly organized and of dubious value.The information on edibility and other usefulness is limited, often speculative and not to be relied on.

Edible and Useful Plants
I am pleased to have this book, and I appreciate that it was sent promptly and in good condition.

Great Book
This is a great book for anyone who is wanting to learn about plants in Texas.If you want to learn about what plants are edible, what certain plants can be used for and even a few recipies then this is the book for you. ... Read more

Product Description
1918. In the course of his work, the writer comes in contact with a large number of people who are interested in botany as a recreation and a change from their regular work. It is noteworthy with such students that interest in a plant is considerably quickened when it can be shown that the plant in question possesses either medicinal or poisonous properties. In answer to this need, the writer compiled this book which imparts useful information and at the same time emphasizes the paramount importance of scientific training. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (9)

Outstanding
Dr Day's book is an entertaining, beautifully and hilariously illustrated book.I'm going to love reading this to my niece when she's old enough.

Lotsa gross stuff!
My 8-year old daughter really likes this book. It has "lotsa gross stuff". We read it as a family. My daughter already has an extensive library and is quite a bookworm. I asked her about the book just now and she went to the shelf and pulled it down and gave me a quick review.It is very well written and informative, and has fun drawings. I actually read it myself and learned more than I cared about spiders. Dr. Day is a trained pediatrician and has a good grasp of the child's mind. This book might be even better suited to a young boy. I'm looking forward to his next book -- I have suggested that he write a book about "babies" focusing on different animals and their babies -- as my daughter likes anything about babies (and calls pediatricians "baby doctors"). Great first book, Dr. Day!

Great Book for Teachers to Have!
I bought this book to keep in the classroom. Currently, I teach middle school English Language Learners, but I think this book would be great for any 3-8 teacher or high school science teacher. It is filled with fun pictures and great facts about insects, plants and animals. The students always race to get the book first when there is any free time in the classroom. If you are looking for a good non-fiction book to put in your classroom library, this is it!

Fantastic fun AND informative
This is a great book to entertain and delight kids with the icky wonders of the world -- spiders, insects, plants that eat both, and so on. In addition to fantastic illustrations and clever commentary, though, the book is packed full of really useful information about what to worry about (or not) in terms of poisonous critters, plants that make you itch, and everything in between.My 4 year old was so entertained that he insisted on taking the book to preschool to show off -- and proceeded to explain tarantulas, and their relationship to the Italian dance the tarantella, to anyone who would listen.Your kids will love this book.And they just might learn something too!

don't touch that
It contains loads of information on things you encounter in your daily life, yet presents them in a funny and fun way.The drawings by the author are the best part, it's the icing on the cake!It is great for kids of any age, especially good for summer reading, and a fun read for adults as well. Then keep it as part of your reference book collection. ... Read more

Product Description
This book is the first of its kind and will provide much needed information about the toxins that are present in fifty of Jamaica s most poisonous plants. It provides the reader with data on the effects of these toxins on the body and very importantly, theantidotes that are needed. This collaborative effort fills a long standing need and provides a useful reference for doctors, health care professionals and lay persons. ... Read more

Product Description
The long-awaited second volume by the author of Pharmako/Poeia explores the pharmacological, poetic, botanical, psychological, and sociological aspects of stimulants, hallucinogens, and other psychoactive plants, in the author's unique and entertaining style. (Previously titled Pharmako/Gnosis) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Researching from the pages of this book on wikipedia right now!
THis is a fantastic book!

I was a bit thrown off by the set up...how taken...history...part used...history...part used...effect....but if read like a fabulous work of poetry instead of an herbal it is a great read with loads of wonderful information in it.want to get the rest of the series now!THank you Dale for sharing your wisdom!!

the way to go
a wonderfully creative book - in design and content. This incredible, magical book was obviously formed from an amazing mind who looked beyond normal book requirements and envisioned something that would satisfy (like the subject matter) beyond expectations.

Bravo to the author, publisher and designer for an all-around spectacular work.

Stimulating plants....
Since my own interests include gardening, herbs, plant poisons, and natural pharmaceuticals such as caffeine, I quickly decided Dale Pendell's PHARMAKO-DYNAMIS and PHARMAKO-POEIA were must-read books for me.These books are also for historians, drug counselors, people who write laws associated with drug use, those concerned with the impoverishment of countries invaded by world-based industrialized corporations, and drug users.Think you aren't a drug user?Other than tea, coffee, chocolate, wine, beer, the paregoric my mother fed me as a child, and the aether and morphine I ingested at different times as a hospital patient, neither am I. Incidentally, paregoric and morphine are related to opium and it's offspring heroin.

Pendell suggests the reader can begin anywhere in either of his two books and arrive at the same place.I read the sections that interested me most and then backfilled.I ended up reading all of PHARMAKO-DYNAMIS (the second volume) first.This volume includes essays on coffee, tea, chocolate, kola, betel, Ma Huang (Ephedera), Khat, Coca, and Nutmeg.Nutmeg??Yes, nutmeg is a "drug" or herb of choice for some. You probably knew the poppy seeds on your bagel could lead to a positive on a drug test, but you might not have known that nutmeg in the proper doses could lead to euphoria, delirious visions, or headaches. Pendell says he prefers his nutmeg in eggnog.

Pendell writes provocatively, " Billions of dollars are spent to keep adults from having access to methamphetamines, while Adderall (amphetamine) and Ritalin (methylphenidate) are widely prescribed for children."Many of the plants with "suspect" pharmaceutical uses have been cultivated for thousands of years. Coca has been around for five to seven thousand years, and until the drug czars cracked down, it was an ingredient in Coca-Cola. The soft drink no longer includes it's namesake, but devotees can find the real stuff without a great deal of difficulty.Pendell characterizes the attempt by governments to control "drugs" as a continuation of the 19th Century Spice Wars, and more or less an unmitigated disaster (and given the recent news the Columbian drug lords may have links to terrorism, one must be concerned about this).

My favorite drug, or drug of choice is tea (Camilla Sinensis).Fortunately, all sorts of benefits are associated with tea drinking. Another favorite is cacoa, a favorite drink of shamans and Goethe, who had a life-long interest in both the drink and the mysticism. Goethe once wrote..."Four epochs of the sciences: childlike, poetic, superstitious; empirical, investigative, curious; dogmatic, didactic, pedantic; and ideal, methodical, mystical."Pendell covers each with the plant substances he explores.

The whole Pharmako series is worth reading
Dale Pendell's "Pharmako" series is an excellent resource for those interested in the relation of human cultures to plants, especially plants with consciousness-changing properties.The author devotes sections to each of a wide array of different plants, as well as sections dealing tangentially with aspects of the "Poison Path".One of the most refreshing aspects of the series is the way it deals with the whole spectrum of these plants - coffee, chocolate, marijuana, opium, tobacco, wine and beer, cocaine, and many others, on the same footing.One of the few other books to take this perspective - Terrence McKenna's "Food of the Gods" - is also well worth reading, but is shorter, deals with a narrower range of "allies", and lacks some of the poetic and stylistic verve of Dale Pendell's books.

Another comparison - to Hoffmann and Schultes' "Plants of the Gods" is in order, as both have encyclopaedic range, but the Pharmako series takes a more integrated viewpoint, and (again) is longer.When the series is complete (with Pharmako/Gnosis) I expect it to be one of the fullest and most useful references on this fascinating subject.

One feature which recommends this series is the variety of perspectives which the subsections of each chapter bring to each plant: we learn about botany, about pharmacology, history, religious uses, personal views of the effects, poetic odes, esoteric commentary, and more.The author takes seriously the question of how to report on plants whose effects involve changes in consciousness: he lets the narrative voice reflect some of the kinds of awareness associated to each (one reason the book on stimulants ended up being so long that the two-book series turned into a three-book series!)

If you interest in these plants is scientific, historical, religious, or whatever else, you'll surely find facets of this multi-sided work that appeal - and you may discover an interest in the others.If you merely want to see an innovative kind of reportage, you may even discover an interest in the subject.

Warmly recommended. ... Read more

Product Description
Did you know---The Venus Flytrap plant eats bugs? That the redwood is the tallest tree in the world? God's awesome world is filled with unusual plants! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

fun to read
Reviewed by Zoey Crane (age 6) and Nana for Reader Views (09/10)

"Poisonous, Smelly, and Amazing Plants" is another great book in the series "I Can Read! / Made by God."This is a great book for 4-8 year olds that is easy to read and has colorful pictures.It explains various plants that look beautiful but you can't eat them or they smell bad.

Zoey:

"I just can't believe God would make such beautiful plants that smelled or were bad for you. But God knows what he is doing and each plant has a job to do. I liked the pictures and it was easy to read. I learned a lot and took it to school to show my teacher."

Nana:

"Poisonous, Smelly, and Amazing Plants" is the third book in this series that we have read. I really like the pictures; they are colorful and the book is easy to read and understand. After Zoey read this book, she wanted to get her binoculars and go for a nature hunt.

Got my three-year-old discussing fly agarics at the dinner table!
My daughter has asked to read this book (and the two others we own from the series: Cats, Dogs, Hamsters, and Horses (I Can Read! / Made By God) and Spiders, Snakes, Bees, and Bats (I Can Read! / Made By God)) so many times that I almost have it memorized. Every page has a photograph matching the text, and the basic science info all seems accurate. I like that it includes God in the story in a natural and unforced way.

Of the three books in this series that we own, this one is my favorite. The writing flows well, as children are introduced to fly agarics (a type of mushroom), corpse plants, venus fly traps, redwoods, and sequoias. Tonight at dinner our three-and-a-half year old told Daddy all about fly agarics, emphasizing that we can't eat them for dinner because they would make us sick (which is true!). She has also decided that we should own a venus fly trap. I like how naturally God is woven into this book. For example, the section about corpse plants reads, "Another plant to stay away from is very smelly. It is called the corpse plant. God made this plant smell like rotten meat!" A secular text would have the same content, just with something like, "This plant smells like rotten meat!" Here God is given credit for creation without changing the type of content that would be included in any other book about plants.

(I will mention, as a disclaimer, that Zonderkidz provided me with this book to review. I was not asked to give a positive review - though, in this case, I was pleased to do so because we loved them! - just an honest one. I will be purchasing other I Can Read! books published by them after reading these, which shows how much we enjoy them!) ... Read more