Publisher's Synopsis
Materia Medica IV: Botany For Herbalists is indeed the fourth in our series of books exploring the powerful and diverse herbs that we so count on for this most vital work of healing naturally. Eight of our savvy Plant Healer Quarterly writers bring to these pages close to a full century's worth of personal experience and study, this time out focusing on providing the skills for accurate plant identification, on taxonomy features, families, communities, and the kinds of habitats where they can be found and gathered.
Join us in learning to parse the forms and structures that distinguish one species from another, from leaf to flower. Parse the familial differences between Rutaceae, Solinaceae and Asteracea, the specific signatures and actions that determine their groupings. Enjoy a virtual plant walk through some middle elevation meadows and a recovering burn scar, and take additional deep dives into the glory and uses of proliferate, health-bringing "weeds," Guido's celebration of "liminal" species, the role that rivers can play, and our own individual connection to the natural world and natural healing processes through our work with herbs.
We dedicate this volume to Plant Healer Quarterly's original botany columnist, the esteemed 7-Song -- and to our publication's current and future botanist scribe Shana Grover. Both have helped bring to life for everyone the herbs and actions without which there could be no effective herbal healings, reawakening in us a great curiosity and childlike sense of wonder that can propel as well inform and empower our very personal practice.
Part I: The Botany of Herbs
The Benefits & Joys of Botany Shana Lipner Grover
Botany For Herbalists 7 Song
Botanical Eyes & The 4 Whorls of The Flower Shana Lipner Grover
Flowers: A Basic Introduction 7 Song
Leaves Illuminated - Part I 7 Song
Leaves Illuminated - Part II 7 Song
Leaves: What They Can Tell Us Shana Lipner Grover
Winter Plant Identification 7Song
Part II: More Medicinal Plant Families
The Botany of Monocots & Eudicots Shana Lipner Grover
The Botany of The Rutaceae Family Shana Lipner Grover
The Botany of Solinaceae Shana Lipner Grover
The Botany of The Asteracea Shana Lipner Grover
The Botany of The Piper Genus Shana Lipner Grover
Lamiaceae Family: Heddy Johannesen
Aromatic Nervines & Carminatives of The Mint Family
Medicinal Shrubs Dara Saville
Part III: Deep Connections & Plant Communities
Relationships With Nature: Shana Lipner Grover
Connecting Deeper Through Herbs
Liminal plants Guido Masé
Honoring the Humble Weeds: Holly Dunbar
A Journey Back to the Plants
Invasive Medicinals Shana Lipner Grover
Mullein & Solomon's Seal: Alignment & Flow Seán Pádraig O'Donoghue
Plant Walk Through The Middle Elevations Meadows Shana Lipner Grover
Early Spring Medicines of The Black Hills Sean Croke
Plant Walk Through a Recovering Burn Shana Lipner Grover
Late Winter Plants: We Owe It All To The Rivers Sean Croke
