BOOK REVIEW A Handbook of Native American Herbs: The pocket guide to 125 medicinal plants and their uses

A Handbook of Native American Herbs: The pocket guide to 125 medicinal plants and their uses

by Alma R. Hutchens

Shambhala Publications 1992, 272 pages

If herbs are your thing, as an herbalist or aspiring herbalist, you will look for nice handy guidebooks to help you learn and keep learning from.  And let me tell you, if you live to be a thousand, you will never be able to learn it all.  And if like me, you are getting older, your brain will have a hard time containing it.  That's why I am always on the lookout for a good guide.

This one has a listing of over 125 herbs in North America and the author compiled this to stand the test of time as a "portable" reference guide. It was so good that by 1992 there was seventeen printings.  The editor adds, "Included are dosages, directions for use, remedies for some common ailments, homeopathic methods, and lore from the folk medicine of other countries---particularly Russia, China, India, and Pakistan---where the arts of herbal healing have traditionally flourished."

Best thing of all, in the back is a listing of medical terms to help you understand for example, what alterative means or diaphoretic.  The meat of the book is a listing of various herbs, trees and roots that are healing.  Take for example, Blackberry (Rubus villosus).  The author states, "The berries were used as food and medicine by Native Americans, and today we know by their experience, and by scientific proof that the plant is exceedingly valuable in chronic diarrhea, dysentery, cholera, and summer complaints of children and is often the only thing that gets results.  Milkweed (Asclepias syrica) is also listed, and it is so important to Monarch butterflies.  It is their only food.  I'm planting the seeds this year as I haven't seen any on my land for some years now.  She lists it as an expectorant and it has many good healing qualities we humans can use too. A tincture of the root is good for bronchitis and flu.  My last example is the Sunflower (Helianthus annuus), very well known for bringing lots of good to soils it is grown in, in effect, cleaning and repairing the soil.  They are able to follow the sun from morning to night, an ability they call heliotropism.  In folk medicine, there's an aged liniment recipe that was used for rheumatic pain.  Very interesting tidbits and things to learn about plants you may be familiar with and some that might be new to you.

I highly recommend this book for your herbal bookshelf.  I was unable to find any personal information on the author in my research.  But it was stated that Hutchens was/is a respected herbalist and author known for her contributions to the field of herbal medicine.