The Earthwise Herbal Books

The Earthwise Herbal Books by Matthew Wood

Matthew Wood is one of my favorite herbalists and he has recently published two great new books, The Earthwise Herbal: A Complete Guide to New World Medicinal Plants and The Earthwise Herbal: A Complete Guide to Old World Medicinal Plants.

These new titles are comprehensive guides to medicinal plants from Europe and North America.  They include detailed profiles for each plant that include very specific symptom pictures that help you understand when that herb is going to be most valuable for someone.  

What I love about Matthew Wood is that his approach to plants weaves together tradition, folklore, personal clinical experience and modern understanding of plant constituents.  He gives you a feel for plants with lines like, "chamomile is for babies of any age" or wild lettuce is "the herbal street-person."  It gives you an intuitive feel for when an herb is likely to be effective.  I highly recommend adding these books to your herbal library.