Wild Roots

Wild Roots
A Forager's Guide to the Edible and Medicinal Roots, Tubers, Corms, and Rhizomes of North America

The Beginning of the Book
Plant Names
Dilution and Evolution
Scenery Beneath the Greenery
Machinery Beneath the Greenery
1.  Roots of Shade-Loving Forest Plants
2.  Roots of Sun-Loving Field Plants
3.  Roots of Aquatic and Marsh Plants
4.  Other Roots
Appendix
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Doug Elliott is the author of Woodslore and Wildwoods Wisdom and lives in Union Mills, North Carolina.

"A wealth of information about almost sixty roots of North American plants. . . . It, altogether, is a thought-provoking little book, obviously a labor of love."
Natural Farmer, Winter 1998/99

"With its wealth of information and delightfully humorous flavor, Wild Roots refreshes the spirit like a hot cup of sassafras tea."
Cincinnati Enquirer

NATURE / HERBS

For more than two decades Doug Elliott has wandered North America gathering roots and herbs, botanical information, and a great deal of plant lore. He has also created the extraordinary drawings that illustrate each plant in this delightful book.

Elliott profiles roots, rhizomes, corms, and tubers that grow in the fields, forests, and marshlands of North America. Some of the plants he presents are edible, while others can be brewed into robust teas; some are effective as medicines, and others can be used to make natural toothpaste, shampoo, and dyes.

You’ll learn both the botanical and regional common names for each plant (Jack-in-the-Pulpit, for instance, is also known as Wake Robin, Priest’s Pintle, Indian Turnip, Devil’s Ear, and Wild Pepper); find facts that conventional field guides fail to include (like John Smith’s account of Native American women using Blood Root oil to “improve their invisible charms”); and be entertained by observations from the field (“It is not uncommon to find butterflies so drunk, from sipping too freely of the American Angelica nectar, that they are completely unable to fly”).

Filled with practical information and lively commentary, Wild Roots offers all nature lovers a rare discovery: the chance to explore the “other half” of the plant world that lies just beneath our feet.

DOUG ELLIOTT is the author of Woodslore and Wildwoods Wisdom and lives in Union Mills, North Carolina.