A Survival Handbook to Sierra Flora

by Norman F. Weeden

Concise, direct, straight to the point information about survival with Sierra Flora.

406 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1975

Reviews

[Richard]

A pocket (4 1/2" x 6", but 1" thick) guide to the plants of the Sierra Nevada mountains, including brief notes — when available — on which are edible.

Uses a dichotomous key, which isn't a problem, but also is suffused with botanical jargon I can't seem to learn. Which really makes it hard to use for the uninitiated. If I somehow learn the common name for a plant, I could look it up in the index, and thus come in the back door. But just to find those tidbits of whether native Americans ate some plant, or used it as a nosebleed remedy?

Nope, especially not when Weeden's Foreword points out:

It is doubtful, however, that a person would care to exist on the Sierran cuisine. Though there are many edible plants in the Sierra Nevada, their taste is often disgusting, making the plants unpalatable except to someone actually starving. Aside from some of the juicy berries there are no savory morsels in the coniferous forests.

My curiosity was not based on the possibility of starving, so this is something of a damper. I do, however, still want to hunt up an example of Miner's Lettuce (" Montia perfoliata is edible raw or cooked. The stems and lvs are excellent in salads. The roots are edible raw or after boiling.")

And, of course, I already own Edible and Useful Plants of California , which is easier to read, probably easier to find, and has color photos as well as line drawings — and includes recipes!
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