A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants Eastern and Central North America Peterson Field Guide Series No. 23 by Lee Allen Peterson

This is a high quality field guide focusing on the identification of wild edible plants of the eastern half of the country. Peterson uses a mixture of 78 photographs, but mostly, high quality black and white line drawings to help you recognize the plants they included. Unlike many ‘flower’ identification guides Peterson shows us leaves, stems, flowers and sometimes even fruits. And in a helpful way points out unique characteristics that might help us identify the plants.

Included here that you do not usually see in ‘wildflower’ guides are shrubs, trees, vines, non-showy flowering plants, and a few mushrooms. Understand that this book is valuable for what it is—an aid to identifying wild ‘edibles’. More than most other books it shows edible and poisonous plant look-a-likes ‘if their flowers are similar’. Use other books to help identify plants down to the species level.

And while abbreviated edibility information is included, it gives little or no detail for really successful wild food experiences. It does cover many plants that are rarely found in other edibility guides. Most of the focus is on the eastern half of North America, but at least 1/2 of the plants or their close relatives can be found in the west. Recommended for use in combination with other illustrated guides in an eastern wild food library!

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