Recommended Reading

General

Appalachian Ethnobotany Suggested Reading - Marc Williams

This is a list of mostly book and journal article resources for the study of Appalachian ethnobotany that can be downloaded as a pdf.

MarcWilliamsAppEthnoBot-ReferencesNewFinal2015.pdf

Botany

Suggested Reading List for Books on Botany -

This is a more extensive list of books that cover the more technical aspects of botany BotanySuggestedReading.pdf

A Synonymized Checklist of Vascular Flora of the United States, Canada and Greenland 2nd ed. (1994) - J. T. Kartesz

This handy book list most of the plants native or naturalized in all of North America!

Wildflowers of North America: A Guide to Field Identification (1984) - F. D. Venning

This is a very affordable rather comprehensive and compact little book

Botany For Gardeners 3rd ed. (2010) - Brian Capon

A nice overview of botany for laypeople

Flora (2003) 2 vols. - S. Hogan (editor)

This two book set by Timber Press is the most comprehensive collection of world plants that i have found. It also comes with a very useful CD

Vascular Plant Families (1977) - J. Smith

This book was used by Frank Cook in earlier classes around Botany in a Day

How to Identify Flowering Plant Families (1992) - J. Baumgardt

A useful additional text for learning plant family patterns

Photographic Atlas of Botany and Guide to Plant Identification (2004) - J. Castner

This is another good modern source for taxonomic discussion and also has incredible photographs

Guide to the Vascular Plants of the Blue Ridge (1989) - B. E. Wofford

A list of most of the plants occurring in Appalachia

The Botany Coloring Book (1982) - P. Young

This is a great resource to slow down and learn the different parts of plants through studying and/or coloring detailed drawings

Plant Identification Terminology 2nd ed. (2001) - J. Harris and M. Harris

A good book for learning plant id terminology

Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (2005) - D. Horn

This is hands down the best Field Guide for Wildflowers of Appalachia

Manual of Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (1968) - Radford, Ahles, Bell

A list of all the plants known to be native or naturalized to the Carolinas

Flowering Plant Families (1994) - Wendy Zomlefer

This book has excellent illustrations of many major plant families

Flowering Plant Families of the World Rev ed. (2007) - V.H. Heywood

This is the most modern up to date treatment of flowering plant families

Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (1977) - L. Newcomb

This is one of the most commonly used field guides for wildflowers especially in the Northeast but even in Appalachia as well

Suggested Reading for the Ethnobotany of the Caribbean - Compiled by Marc Williams

Click on the link below for the PDF

Suggested_Reading_for_Caribbean_Ethnobotany_Sep2016.pdf

Dye Plants

Dyes from American Native Plants: A Practical Guide - Lynne Richards

This book is a really thorough resource and one of my favorites for dye plants native to America.

A Dyer's Garden : From Plant to Pot: Growing Dyes for Natural Fibers - Rita Buchanan

This is a standard little book for a lot of natural dyers to begin

The Complete Illustrated Book of Dyes from Natural Sources. - Arthur and Connie Krochmal

This is yet another great ethnobotanical resource from the Krochmal husband and wife team.

Suggested Reading List for Natural Dye Plants -

This is a more extensive list containing five pages of books covering natural dyes. DyePlantSuggestedReading.pdf

Exotic Invasive Plants

Suggested Reading List for Exotic Invasive Plants -

This document list an abundance of resources for the study of exotic invasive plants.

Suggested_Reading_on_Exotic_Invasive_Plants.pdf

Medicinal Plants

Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal and other Woodland Medicinals (2005) - Jeanine Davis

This is one of the most authoritative books on the subject of Appalachian medicinal plant cultivation with a special focus on Ginseng.

Medical Herbalism (2003) - David Hoffmann

A very authoritative book covering the medicinal application of many plants

Medicinal Plants of the World (2004) - Ben Van Wyk

An amazing tour de force! Recommended reading for anyone interested in the medicinal use of plants from a worldwide perspective.

Earthly Bodies Heavenly Hair (1998) - Dina Falconi

This is one of my favorite books for homemade health care products.

Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs (1998) - C. Kowalchik

A very affordable and comprehensive book! A good investment for an initial foray into the use of herbs.

Planetary Herbology (1988) - Michael Tierra

This is one of the first books i look to for a cross comparison of Eastern and Western herbal philosophies

Suggested Reading List for Medicinal Uses of Plants -

This is a more extensive suggested reading list for medicinal plant books. MedicinalPlantSuggestedReading.pdf

African American Herbalism Blog Series - Chestnut Herb School

A three part blog series covering the arc of African American herbalism from the motherland through to the diaspora.



Native American Ethnobotany

Suggested Reading List for Ethnobotany of Native Americans -

This is a list of books that cover Native American Ethnobotany NativeAmericanSuggestedReading.pdf

Wild Edibles

A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants of Eastern and Central North America - Lee Peterson

This is my number one favorite book on wild edible plants for Eastern North America!

Using Wild and Wayside Plants - Nelson Coon

This book is a great basic overview of some common wild edible plants

Wild Edible Plants Suggested Reading List -

Here is a more extensive list of book resources on wild edible plants WildEdiblesSuggestedReading.pdf

The Wild Vegetarian Cookbook - Steve Brill

This is a comprehensive resource put out by Harvard Press.

The Encyclopedia of Edible Plants of North America - Francois Couplan

This book list almost all the edible plants for the whole continent! A total of more than 4000 species!!!

The Uses of Wild Plants - Frank Tozer

Another good overview for wild edibles