Edible and Useful Plants of the Southwest: Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona

I hike a lot and use this book to find plants to search for where I plan to hike. This provides a clear understanding of the plants as well as the pros and cons of the plants. This book has helped make a list for my kids to search for while we are hiking. I have enjoyed watching the reaction from my kids when we discover a plant in the book and can eat the plant or its fruit. I have found this book fills the time between my kids asking, "Are we there yet?" I do recommend this book.

I wanted to like this book because as someone who has recently moved to the SW, I have a new plant palette to learn. Unfortunately, after reading a few entries, I can't trust it. I wish I'd realized that before marking it up so I could return it, because it's not an inexpensive paperback. The contradictions within the text would be entirely confusing to a beginner. E.g. the entry for spicebush (Lindera benzoin) is a single paragraph that states: "berries of the spicebush have been used in the past as a spice and a tea", "It is reported that the dried berries were used during the American Revolution as a substitute for allspice", and "The tiny yellow flowers produce a red berry...that is not edible.". So which is it? Not edible? Spice? Tea? Fortunately, I'm on very close terms with Lindera benzoin, so I know it's a delicious, traditional wild edible. But the fact that this kind of obvious mistake made it past the fact checker means I can't trust the book as a whole. Lindera benzoin just happens to be a plant I know, but how would I recognize similar mistakes in the profiles of plants I'm not familiar with? Save your money. I wish I had.

This is a good book but I think it is a little more to deep for my east Texas self. I was looking for something that was easy to understand and the pictures could have been better. It is very detailed if that is what you are looking for. I could care less about the technical names of plants.

This is an excellent book. On edibles in the wild. It even has recipes.

Plant selection area is not mentioned. The majority of the plants in this book are way out of my area. The info provided is clear and understandable.

Overall a pretty good reference. Wish it had more color photos and I also noticed some pretty common plants not listed. But again, better than most reference books out there.

I found this book to be an excellent source for my interest in edible and other useful plants in the Southwest especially the Sonoran desert. The book is well researched with knowledge that is easy to apply in the field.

I am loving this book! Now every time I leave the house, it's a journey into culinary possibilities. The grandchildren and I are munching on edibles that we formally thought of as "weeds" and have discovered that almost every plant has a clearly defined useful purpose. What an eye opener!