Herbal Medicine of the American Southwest
Product Description
Alternative Medicine Review, March 2006 by Mario Roxas Herbal Medicine of the American Southwest by Charles W. Kane, published in January 2006, highlights the wealth of medicinal plants residing in just one corner of our vast national landscape. This text covers over 210 western plants within 100 distinct plant profiles, from Acacia to Yucca. Each profile is identified by what the author calls its main common name. This is followed by the plant’s Latin family name, its current Latin binomial, and any other common names. The profile is further broken down into segments such as description, distribution, chemistry, medicinal uses, indications, collection, preparation and dosage, and cautions. Kane’s writing style is simple and easy to follow. Drawing from over 15 years of experience in the field, he equips the reader with practical information that can be readily applied, while at the same time lending insights that can only come from someone with a t… More >>
Herbal Medicine of the American Southwest
Herbal Medicine Of The American Southwest: A Guide To The Identification, Collection, Preparation, And Use Of Medicinal And Edible Plants Of The Southwestern United States by practicing herbalist Charles W. Kane (Tucson Clinic of Botanical Medicine) and featuring elegant and accurate illustrations by Frank S. Rose is the “user-friendly” and easy to use guide perfect for exactly what is described in the title. Herbal Medicine Of The American Southwest informs the reader of how to find the plant, how to prepare it, what it can be used for, what side effects may occur, and what resources might be necessary to further define the plant, giving the overall book a very definitive and notable study of the plants it features. Herbal Medicine Of The American Southwest is highly recommended to all naturalists living in the southwest of America, as well as organic studies students, however especially recommended to all inhabitants of the featured area.
This is an excellent reference book. It is a little dry and the pictures were all in the center rather than with the plant descriptions. I’m sure that was done to save on printing costs–the pictures are on high glossy paper and there are photos as well as phenomenal drawings by Frank Rose. The photos and drawings are probably the best I’ve ever seen in this type of book. Instead of cross-referencing the pictures to the descriptions the photos are alphabetized making making finding the picture very easy.
The book is well-written and an excellent reference especially for anyone living in the southwest. When the author does tell personal stories about experiences with the plants, (finding them or using them) they are very good. I wish more of these personal notes were in the book because they were enjoyable, but I suppose there was only so much paper.
this is an excellent book for newcomers to wildcrafting and medicne processing. the excellent pictures follow up with the medica info for each plant. these plants are easily found with the right description/photos both of which are detailed in this book. thank you Mr. Kane.
I bought this book specifically FOR the color photographs – we live in the southwest and it’s of course much easier to identify a plant if you can already see it in a color photograph (many of the books we’d looked at were black and white drawings or photographs).
The added bonus is that it is chock full of information and a nice, easy-to-read format – just enough information for the budding herbalist, while just enough science to appease those with a lot more experience. Happy to have this one in my library and would highly recommend it to anyone living in the American Southwest with an interest in herbal medicines.
This work by Charles Kane is an extremely helpful book to have for any level herbalist. I have been studying, using and now, teaching herbal medicine for 20 years and I refer to this book often for Sonoran and southern Utah herbs.
Mr. Kane’s work is not only accurate (not to be taken for granted in herb books), it is also very well organized and user friendly. He comes from an experienced, hands-on perspective, rather than an academic, theoretical one. He seems like the kind of herbalist who definitely gets dirt under his fingernails!
My one complaint is the book does not cover plants above 5000′ in the American southwest. It is a very ‘deserty’ compilation and is ideal for people in the Tucson-Phoenix region. For those of you looking for a high elevation herbal, get Michael Moore’s work. For anyone else, get 3 of Kane’s books- one for the house, one for the vehicle and one for a friend. You won’t be sorry!