As a nurseryman and grower specializing in edible, ceremonial and medicinal plants for gardens and landscapes here on the central coast of California as well as an amateur herbalist, I am always looking for more information on medicinal plants native to this area.
“Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West” by Michael Moore contains a wealth of information for both the novice and the advanced herbalist practitioner:
- Identification and safe use of the plants
- Appearance, habitats, collecting methods and storage
- Therapeutic uses, constituents, and preparations
- Potential toxicities and medical contradictions
- Tea making, tincturing, and salve making
More than 300 species are included with a close look at more than 80 with exceptionally accurate line drawings by artist Mimi Kamp. All this combined with wit and humor and a passion for medicinal plants.
“For intestinal cramps, with gas and gurgly borborygmus (the sensation of gerbils in wet suits surfing goofy-foot down your transverse colon), for menstrual cramps that seem partially intestinal, and for the two-day killer flatus you get from eating undercooked lentil loaf at the yoga conference, use Angelica root”.
“Stream Orchid is a mood-elevating antispasmodic and sedative for those with a cold nature and generally deficient constitution. It is especially useful for menstrual cramps and hypersensitivity to pain that prevents sleep. If you have PMS distress, with cold hands and feet, a clammy, sweaty brow, and nameless unspeakable dreads suitable only for one of Poe’s lesser poems (“…lest I be buried alive amongst the miasma of the spirit…,”etc.) or a Sylvia Plath dread alike contest, try a few doses of this friendly plant.”