Common AT Medicinal Plants

[Pedaling Fool]

I've been reading up on edible plants/weeds and one thing I've learned is that whoever writes these books on plant identification cannot take pictures, it's really frustrating and very difficult to find a good book on plant identification, even the pics on the internet can be less than adequate. And then you got them stupid books with drawings

[Tinker]

i ate ramps to cure a cold a few years back on the trail...worked as good as any OTC remedy for me...

I wouldn't be surprised if it worked like garlic. Garlic is great for health (not so much for breath).

[fiddlehead]

Great subject. I think if I'm not mistaken in the southern AT they often use the term woodcrafting for this sort of thing,

It's "Wildcrafting"

Some book ideas: Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild
A PLANT LOVER'S GUIDE to WILDCRAFTING
Folk Medicine in Southern Appalachia
Wild Roots: A Foragers Guide to the Edible and Medicinal Roots, Tubers, Corms, and Rhizomes of North America

Also Google a guy named "Steve Brill"

[Half Note]

Pine needle tea!

[dink]

a Cherokee book on medicinal plants covers a good deal of the plants you will find on the AT

[Wise Old Owl]

yea and what is the name so we can look it up?

[dink]

yea and what is the name so we can look it up?

I'll have to call my mom to find out, it is on her bookshelf...I think it is called "Cherokee medicinal plants"

[JAK]

Great subject. I think if I'm not mistaken in the southern AT they often use the term woodcrafting for this sort of thing, so that might be a good search term. Getting back to sustainability is a work in progress. Good hunting.

It's "Wildcrafting"

Some book ideas: Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild
A PLANT LOVER'S GUIDE to WILDCRAFTING
Folk Medicine in Southern Appalachia
Wild Roots: A Foragers Guide to the Edible and Medicinal Roots, Tubers, Corms, and Rhizomes of North America

Also Google a guy named "Steve Brill"

Woopsa! Thanks for that.
Saw it in a movie once about a girl that did it to make a living for her family after her folks died.
Great stuff.

[canoehead]

These 2 Jewelweed and plantain, are common on the AT.
Have fun and don't eat anything you can't identify. yea I know tell a hiker not to eat is "waqy" but it could ruin your day if you don't know exactly what you're picking, especially mushrooms that really don't have much nutritional value.

http://www.altnature.com/jewelweed.htm
http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/p/placom43.html
http://www.wildernesscollege.com/pla...-medicine.html

[JAK]

Wood sorrel is a good one up here, most places. There is other stuff but the wood sorrel is easily recognized. I learned most of my wildcrafting in the backwoods of New Brunswick when I was 3 or 4 years old, perhaps 100 yards or more from my back screen door. Learned it all from a hardened old grade schooler, of 7 or 8. Kids would eat just about anything back then, as long as it wasn't served on a plate. Probably where it all the woods lore comes from. Sure you lose a few now and then, but at that age there hasn't been too much investment. ;-)

Not soft the soil where we took root together;
It grew not giants but the stunted strong,
Toughened by suns and bleak wintry weather
To grow up slow and to endure for long;
We have not gained to any breadth or length,
And all our beauty is our stubborn strength.

Fred Cogswell

[WingedMonkey]

I've been reading up on edible plants/weeds and one thing I've learned is that whoever writes these books on plant identification cannot take pictures, it's really frustrating and very difficult to find a good book on plant identification, even the pics on the internet can be less than adequate. And then you got them stupid books with drawings

Might not cover much on the AT but the best pictures of Florida plants available is from The Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants. The online version once you learn to navigate it will give your a load of information for father research.
I rarely find a plant growing in Florida I can't identify from it.

http://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/

[conburn]

It's not quite along the lines of medicinal properties, so it's a bit off-thread but Nature's Garden- A guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants by Samuel Thayer. Great book. Extremely thorough, well written, with great pictures. It even shows the relevancy of the book by states, with high percentages for the midwest and the states along the AT.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...garden&x=0&y=0

[barefoothiker11]

Thanks for your input everyone! I don nhot plan on picking or taking anything from the trail...unless i absolutely needed to of course. I've been learning/practicing more and more wilderness survival skills and having a basic awareness of whats growing around you, Im finding, can be the difference maker between life or death siuations. With that being said, I don't plan on finsding myself in a situation where I'm eating roots and berries to survive, but if it came down to it I'd like to have the knowledge of what to avoid and what to eat. Thanks fort all your recommendations everyone.

[fiddlehead]

Thanks for your input everyone! I don nhot plan on picking or taking anything from the trail...unless i absolutely needed to of course. I've been learning/practicing more and more wilderness survival skills and having a basic awareness of whats growing around you, Im finding, can be the difference maker between life or death siuations. With that being said, I don't plan on finsding myself in a situation where I'm eating roots and berries to survive, but if it came down to it I'd like to have the knowledge of what to avoid and what to eat. Thanks fort all your recommendations everyone.

Fine, but if you feel a cold coming on while out there hiking, don't be afraid to make some pine needle tea or nettle tea.
It's not going to harm the environment and will be a lot cheaper than any pharmacy.

As for morels, ramps, ginseng, etc. Maybe best to leave them be for others to look at and learn about.
And of course mushrooms should be avoided unless you REALLY know what you are doing. (especially white ones, and LBM's)
I've never seen any psychedelic ones on the AT although have found some on the PCT.

[TOMP]

Adding a mortar and pestel to your gear list? I actually love the drawings in some of those old plant id books. There is one book on mushrooms that was my favorite, its about 50 years old, big and hardcover, and has large color drawings of about 1000 mushroom species. Cant remember the title, it was in the plant pathology library at school. So pretty.

[veteran]

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=HEDEO

[Tractor]

I know pennyroyal is good against deer flies at least. Smell isn't bad either.

[Pedaling Fool]

Probably see this plant on the trail, it's a biden with over 200 varieties, many of which are edible and have some medicinal qualities. I've seen this plant on the side of the road and always thought it looked ugly, but then I had some grow in my garden and I let it grow since I noticed that the bees and butterflies absolutely loved it, so I decided to find out more about it http://www.floridata.com/ref/b/bide_alb.cfm


And here Green Deane talks about the edibility and medicinal qualities. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6AaozZpBok

[Hairbear]

chick weed is all over it is very nutritious,can be eaten fresh,and also can be crushed and put on places of inflamation.you can feel it working.if you get into nettles peel the skin on the stem,rub the juice on the sting it will go away.jewel weed is the cure for poison ivy,hemeroids and athletes foot.

[Hairbear]

also a tea made from the flower petals of the purple cone flower cures inflamation ,and anxiety