Plant and tree identification books?

I am looking for books on plant and tree identification, idealy suited for survival situations. I am looking for books with information oon medicinal applications aswell as food sources. also interested in honing my sklls on tree identification. I am from Eastern canada and I am looking for books with information on this general area, I am also interested n some books on useful plants from around the worl and thier applications. do you guys have any suggestions or interesting uses for specific plants? tips on identifying plants would also be welcome.

great questions. I would think books of this nature would have good color photographs of the plants and trees to include in focus, sharp close ups of the leaves , roots, and any part that might be dangerouse our extra beneficial.

reply to post by The_Smokeing_Gun


This online 7000 plant database is fantastic.

Plants For A Future

There is a UK & US database .

There would be a substantial number of plants common to both continents.

As well as info on edible & medicinal plants etc , other uses are also catalogued e.g making dyes / scouring agents etc.

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Edit to Add : There are no images with the names on the database , so i just cross referenced it with Google Images .

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Another little trick , once you have identified what plants are edible / medicinal etc , you could buy seed online and plant them around your house.
If you do not have much time to search out for the plants in the wild , by growing them near you, you become intimately familiar with them.
And not just identifying them by their e.g flower , which may only be exhibited for a few weeks.
So when you do go into the wilderness , you`ll be visiting old friends.

Hope this was of some help .

All the best .

[edit on 13-8-2009 by UmbraSumus]

I carry these two books whenever I'm in the bush.

Plants of the Western Boreal Forest & Aspen Parkland.

Mushrooms of the Boreal Forest.

The first one has all of the traditional medicinal and food uses of each plant and has good identifier images and guides. Much of it is relevant to Eastern Canada as well. It is very comprehensive but don't expect to find any non-native species. It does not cover mushrooms so that is why I carry the second book.

reply to post by UmbraSumus


Thank you so much for the link! I was recently thinking about reading up on my herbal medicine knowledge, but I wasn't sure where to start. I lot of information that is found on the web seems to be financed by people trying to sell herbal medicine, luckily this website is free of those things.

reply to post by The_Smokeing_Gun


Hi,
I don't know what Canada has as far as similar agencies, but in the US each state has a Dept. of Conservation. In my state, Missouri, I go to the "Nature Center" run by the DOC for hiking, educational events for my son and myself, and I pick up any free pamphlets they have on a regular basis. Anything I could need to know about my states wild plants and animals, toxic, edible, wilderness usefulness, are in these small handouts. And they are small enough that I store them in ziploc bags and can keep them on my storage shelves for the day I might need detailed info. (I read them now, of course, but I know I won't remember everything if TSHTF.)
The website is mdc.mo.gov... and many of their plant pamphlets are download and printable. It might be an idea to see what Canada has that would be similar, especially because they would have information very specific to the area you are in.
Good Luck,
~prep

Peterson field guides has several books of this type. I've purchased a Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants and Herbs book from them.

Tried to find a book like that at books-a-million, but all they had were flowers/trees, and not the medicinal herb book. Finally found a copy at a health food store in its literature section.

Anyways, the book tells how to identify the plant by its flower, so if you don't get the chance to identify plants in the spring/summer, it will be less handy the rest of the year. However, it has the traditional ailments each plant was used for and which part (root/leaves/poltice etc) of the plant is of interest.

And yeah it has pictures of nearly every single plant, and specific scientific identifiers.

Ex.

Crested wood fern Root

Ladderlike, blue-green fern. Leaves 30in long, to 5 in wide (widest above the middle). etc etc.

Uses: Root tea traditionally used to induce sweating, clear chest congestion, expel intestional worms.


Handy book, if for no other reason than to be better aware of the plants around you.

Or, pretty much what dainoyfb said.

"Back to Eden" a book by Jethro Kloss has LOADS of invaluable information regarding trees, plants, vegetables medicinal and otherwise usefull! I would recommend it to anyone! It was, the last time I saw it, being sold for a very nominal amount as he believed that the information should be freely available to all. He wrote it many years ago so the language used is quite old fashioned but the contents are as relevant today and as important, if not even more so, for all to have! Unfortunately no photos!

Hi Smoking Gun! I can recommend several good books for you

Northern Bushcraft by Mors Kochansky - survival in the canadian bush

Peterson's field guide to Wild Edible Plants

"" " to Medicinal Plants

" " to Eastern trees

Shrub Identification Guide by George Symonds

Have fun learning, best of luck.

reply to post by Asktheanimals


"Northern Bushcraft" by Mors Kochansky is now just called "Bushcraft". It is definitely my favorite Canadian bush survival guide but it has very little in it for medicinal plants. This is why I refer to the book "Plants of the Western Boreal Forest & Aspen Parkland". It lists hundreds of medicinal, edible, and posinous plants, and trees. It identifies by several different components of the plant and has real images.

Does anyone have any specfic information on seaside edibles? I am really curious as to the types of aquatic plants that are edible. Links are appreciated.

How bout this one?
Aquatic Plants
www.wvu.edu...

or
Wild edible plants in Ontario

WldWood Survival Webpage - Ontario, CA
www.wildwoodsurvival.com...

This has some aquatics and good pictures of all the plants it lists.
Edible and Medicinals

~prep

reply to post by preparanoid


Thanks alot. Edibles and Medicinals is A+.