The Bloomsbury Review Reviews Herbal Medicine of the American Southwest, 1st. Ed.

Sunday 1 January 2006 - Filed under Book Reviews

Reviewed by Del Boothe

“Herbal Medicine of the American Southwest “Handsomely produced, this herbal guide covers more than 200 plants native to the Southwest. Useful as both a field guide and a reference source, the plants are carefully identified and include the chemistry of active ingredients, medicinal uses, and collection and preparation suggestions. This is not a complete collection of regional plants, as is found in some herbal encyclopedias, but focuses on common varieties and accessible uses. The author has a functional belief in self-healing; the approach here is to offer non-pharmaceutical, “green” alternatives to standard medical therapeutics, promoting a do-it yourself functional philosophy.

Appropriate warnings detail how specific plants could cause harm, and there is an emphasis on disorders that which to decorate your yard. The book will tell you how to prepare cypress to heal warts, help heal wounds, fight gingivitis and more. Tucson resident and teacher Charles W. Kane details the medicinal uses of 210 such Western plants in his book, many of which grow in central Arizona. The book includes over 250 photographs to assist in field identification.”

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