Michael Moore
In my opinion, this book is well written and organized. The subject of medicinal plants can be difficult to write about accurately in both the scientific manner as well as the traditional and holistic approach. This book accomplishes just that with the expectation that the reader will use and experiment with this knowledge. It covers many plant species, some common and some harder to find. What’s rather intriguing is the way this author treats each specie systematically and covers each topic by appearance, habitat, plants, chemistry, medicinal uses and so on.
There is not as much information regarding some of the very dangerous plants in the desert southwest, however it is still an excellent book for anyone starting out and wanting to explore medicinal plants. This is a subject anyone spending time in the desert should know about as it deals with something basic to our humanity. When thinking of our traditional human culture, that is the hunter and gatherer, we know that these words can also mean male and female. However, pharmacology is practiced by both men and women alike and was practiced under many titles such as Shaman midwife and so on. The practice of using plants as something other than food is uniquely to human.
