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Invasive Plant Medicine: The Ecological Benefits and Healing Abilities of Invasives
The first book to demonstrate how plants originally considered harmful to the environment actually restore Earth's ecosystems and possess powerful healing properties - Explains how invasive plants enhance biodiversity, purify ecosystems, and revitalize the land - Provides a detailed look at the healing properties of 25 of the most common invasive plants Most of the invasive plant species under attack for disruption of local ecosystems in the United States are from Asia, where they play an important role in traditional healing. In opposition to the loud chorus of those clamoring for the eradication of all these plants that, to the casual observer, appear to be a threat to native flora, Timothy Scott shows how these opportunistic plants are restoring health to Earth's ecosystems. Far less a threat to the environment than the cocktails of toxic pesticides used to control them, these invasive plants perform an essential ecological function that serves to heal both the land on which they grow and the human beings who live upon it. These plants remove toxic residues in the soil, providing detoxification properties that can help heal individuals. Invasive Plant Medicine demonstrates how these "invasives" restore natural balance and biodiversity to the environment and examines the powerful healing properties offered by 25 of the most common invasive plants growing in North America and Europe. Each plant examined includes a detailed description of its physiological actions and uses in traditional healing practices; tips on harvesting, preparation, and dosage; contraindications; and any possible side effects. This is the first book to explore invasive plants not only for their profound medical benefits but also with a deep ecological perspective that reveals how plant intelligence allows them to flourish wherever they grow.
384 pages, Paperback
First published August 13, 2010
21 people are currently reading
317 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 2, 2017
A lot of interesting philosophical considerations about invasives, but mostly presents a lot of vague, opinionated concepts with less evidence/explanation/proof to back it up. I really like and appreciate the ideas Scott is presenting about the potential usefulness of invasives, but didn't find the monographs to be particularly helpful and thought most of the book was a bit scattered (with tangents about pharmaceutical drugs being omnipresent in the water systems of the modern world and how plant medicine has been denigrated by modern medicine.) Scott presents a wide array of basic frameworks and worldviews that overshadow the actual information about medicinal value of these plants. Was hoping he would get more into personal and historical uses of invasive plants, but that information was few and far between random scientific studies and brief mentions of TCM uses (utilizing these two systems seemingly more to "prove" that these invasives have medicinal benefit, more than how to implement them in a practice.) I don't know that this is not a book for someone who already considers themself and herbalist, but could be helpful for those looking to understand a framework of healing in opposition to Western medicine.
August 4, 2022
In my top favorite books of the year. This book really helped me challenge my ideas and beliefs about invasive plants. I studied natural resources for my masters degree and have been taught to view invasive plants as the enemy. This author completely changed my view on how we relate to invasive plants and how they are healing they earth.
May 17, 2024
Sometimes, I read something so stupid that I can’t imagine it was written for any other reason besides causing controversy thereby selling more copies. Honestly, I would kind of respect such commitment to choosing to be dumb, if it weren’t so irresponsible! Invasive Plant Medicine is one such case, though its thesis is so poorly argued that I’m surprised anyone actually takes it seriously.
Firstly, there are a lot of valid points to be made for human use of invasive plants. Just the other week I harvested Vitex berries and guava blossoms for medicinal purposes, ruthlessly, because such uses can be important checks on out-of-control populations. But Timothy Lee Scott’s agenda was entirely elsewhere. Invasive Plant Medicine was primarily an ontological defense of invasive plants interspersed with arguments which, while not necessarily wrong, were completely unrelated to his main thesis.
One would think that a book discussing invasive plant medicine would open with a working definition of an invasive species. Scott does no such thing. Instead, much of the misinformation in this book stems from a willful misunderstanding of invasion biology, accusing conservationists of “deeply unscientific emotionalism and deeming the intruders guilty until proved innocent” while being guilty of doing the exact same thing. I was disturbed by his noble savage description of Native Americans (“The departure of these people and their practices…”) while quoting Thomas Jefferson on the FIRST PAGE, but I will let the most egregious and appalling anthropomorphism speak for itself:
“Today’s nativism is similar to the mind set in Nazi Germany, which…pioneered chemical warfare against an ‘inferior’ race of green weeds in its pursuit of purism.”
So… yeah. Plant ecology is totally exactly like killing millions of people, I guess.
For whatever reason Scott seems intent on refuting the scientific fact that species invasion reduces biodiversity, producing the fallacy “invasions by foreign plants increase the richness of biodiversity within the greater ecosystem” (initially, yeah, because you’re introducing more species. But there is no discussion of decreasing evenness, let alone diversity at the local scale where more vulnerable native species are outcompeted.) But even if you make the same wrongful assumptions that he makes, Scott’s argument doesn’t hold logical water. If invasive plants “are not evil, bad plants that are out-competing the others” (how about that unscientific emotionalism!) why does Scott devote so much of his book discussing how disturbances enable species invasion? It’s almost as if he understands the science but is willing to ignore it in service of some bizarre reactionary thesis.
On that note, there is a whole lot of aligning conservationists with industrialists, citing the “prejudice” against invasive plants as stemming from big agriculture, and ignoring the fact that some of the most invasive species were directly introduced as fodder or crop (Johnsongrass and KR bluestem immediately come to mind.) It’s a baffling hill to die on, and he spends a good chunk of the book bemoaning how not too much money is spent on invasive species control and not enough is spent on protecting endangered species. How would he feel if he found out that one of the most important things you can do for most endangered plants is invasive species removal? In addition Scott goes on tangents throughout that have no pertinence to invasion biology — for example, rants about GMOs and pesticide use in agriculture which, while not necessarily wrong, seem to only be present to lend his completely unrelated argument some legitimacy… at least he’s not wrong about everything!
While from the introduction alone I knew this book would be ecologically misinformed, I was hoping it could at least serve as a reference for using invasive plants medicinally. But if the first section of this book, in which Scott makes his defense of invasive plants’ ecological role, was misinformed, the second section, “The Intelligence of Plants,” verges on the willingly obtuse. He writes, “to believe that we can improve upon a plant’s healing properties and wisdom is nothing but hubris,” following an argument on how pharmaceuticals “resulted in turmoil for our bodies.” This sums up the anti-scientific strain I have encountered among herbalists which makes me feel somewhat unwelcome in many circles. Yes, there is an unfair bias against plant medicine due to profit motive. But this often leads to a complete dismissal of science’s benefits to humanity — I was frustrated by this false equivalence in Masanobu Fukuoka’s One Straw Revolution as well! Many people forget that throughout history, herbalists were the cutting edge of scientific thought. The other day my friend said that Saint Hildegard of Bingen would have killed to use a microscope! But instead, new age types choose to stick their heads in the sand when it comes to scientific progress, instead of considering how tradition and science can compliment and even reinforce each other. But this guy is apparently a TCM practitioner so his willful ignorance kind of makes sense in retrospect — of course someone who supports an unscientific industry which is connected to the illegal trafficking of endangered wildlife wouldn’t give a shit about biodiversity loss!
I read this book because I was curious where Scott’s arguments went, but was disappointed to find that they did not hold water. I finished it because writing negative reviews is a lot more fun than positive ones and because I would like to strongly offer a voice of dissent against a book that persuades you not to think. But can you really take a guy seriously who complains about “unscientific emotionalism” and then says stuff like “our sprit-heartmind feeds on the vibrational essence of the wild”?
Firstly, there are a lot of valid points to be made for human use of invasive plants. Just the other week I harvested Vitex berries and guava blossoms for medicinal purposes, ruthlessly, because such uses can be important checks on out-of-control populations. But Timothy Lee Scott’s agenda was entirely elsewhere. Invasive Plant Medicine was primarily an ontological defense of invasive plants interspersed with arguments which, while not necessarily wrong, were completely unrelated to his main thesis.
One would think that a book discussing invasive plant medicine would open with a working definition of an invasive species. Scott does no such thing. Instead, much of the misinformation in this book stems from a willful misunderstanding of invasion biology, accusing conservationists of “deeply unscientific emotionalism and deeming the intruders guilty until proved innocent” while being guilty of doing the exact same thing. I was disturbed by his noble savage description of Native Americans (“The departure of these people and their practices…”) while quoting Thomas Jefferson on the FIRST PAGE, but I will let the most egregious and appalling anthropomorphism speak for itself:
“Today’s nativism is similar to the mind set in Nazi Germany, which…pioneered chemical warfare against an ‘inferior’ race of green weeds in its pursuit of purism.”
So… yeah. Plant ecology is totally exactly like killing millions of people, I guess.
For whatever reason Scott seems intent on refuting the scientific fact that species invasion reduces biodiversity, producing the fallacy “invasions by foreign plants increase the richness of biodiversity within the greater ecosystem” (initially, yeah, because you’re introducing more species. But there is no discussion of decreasing evenness, let alone diversity at the local scale where more vulnerable native species are outcompeted.) But even if you make the same wrongful assumptions that he makes, Scott’s argument doesn’t hold logical water. If invasive plants “are not evil, bad plants that are out-competing the others” (how about that unscientific emotionalism!) why does Scott devote so much of his book discussing how disturbances enable species invasion? It’s almost as if he understands the science but is willing to ignore it in service of some bizarre reactionary thesis.
On that note, there is a whole lot of aligning conservationists with industrialists, citing the “prejudice” against invasive plants as stemming from big agriculture, and ignoring the fact that some of the most invasive species were directly introduced as fodder or crop (Johnsongrass and KR bluestem immediately come to mind.) It’s a baffling hill to die on, and he spends a good chunk of the book bemoaning how not too much money is spent on invasive species control and not enough is spent on protecting endangered species. How would he feel if he found out that one of the most important things you can do for most endangered plants is invasive species removal? In addition Scott goes on tangents throughout that have no pertinence to invasion biology — for example, rants about GMOs and pesticide use in agriculture which, while not necessarily wrong, seem to only be present to lend his completely unrelated argument some legitimacy… at least he’s not wrong about everything!
While from the introduction alone I knew this book would be ecologically misinformed, I was hoping it could at least serve as a reference for using invasive plants medicinally. But if the first section of this book, in which Scott makes his defense of invasive plants’ ecological role, was misinformed, the second section, “The Intelligence of Plants,” verges on the willingly obtuse. He writes, “to believe that we can improve upon a plant’s healing properties and wisdom is nothing but hubris,” following an argument on how pharmaceuticals “resulted in turmoil for our bodies.” This sums up the anti-scientific strain I have encountered among herbalists which makes me feel somewhat unwelcome in many circles. Yes, there is an unfair bias against plant medicine due to profit motive. But this often leads to a complete dismissal of science’s benefits to humanity — I was frustrated by this false equivalence in Masanobu Fukuoka’s One Straw Revolution as well! Many people forget that throughout history, herbalists were the cutting edge of scientific thought. The other day my friend said that Saint Hildegard of Bingen would have killed to use a microscope! But instead, new age types choose to stick their heads in the sand when it comes to scientific progress, instead of considering how tradition and science can compliment and even reinforce each other. But this guy is apparently a TCM practitioner so his willful ignorance kind of makes sense in retrospect — of course someone who supports an unscientific industry which is connected to the illegal trafficking of endangered wildlife wouldn’t give a shit about biodiversity loss!
I read this book because I was curious where Scott’s arguments went, but was disappointed to find that they did not hold water. I finished it because writing negative reviews is a lot more fun than positive ones and because I would like to strongly offer a voice of dissent against a book that persuades you not to think. But can you really take a guy seriously who complains about “unscientific emotionalism” and then says stuff like “our sprit-heartmind feeds on the vibrational essence of the wild”?
December 10, 2014
This book changed my mind about a lot of invasives. I don't hate them as personally- I still would prefer that they'd be controlled.
And I have tried knotweed sprouts as a rhubarb substitute- not even close. They're both sour, and that's about it. I won't deny that they may be good for you- but it's not a taste sensation.
And I have tried knotweed sprouts as a rhubarb substitute- not even close. They're both sour, and that's about it. I won't deny that they may be good for you- but it's not a taste sensation.
March 29, 2011
Another re-think. Are invasives bad? Many of these plants absorb and transform pollutants, hold eroding soil, feed bees, and provide medicinal compounds. Many are useful against diseases like Lyme. This made me see the world in a new way.
June 24, 2011
A look at the role that "weeds" play in healing wastelands, cleaning up pollution and preparing the ground for recovery
January 22, 2015
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. My eyes started to be opened up to the benefits of invasive plants in my early years of permaculture training almost ten years ago. Since then, I have grown to appreciate them more and more. Timothy does an amazing job at explaining the "war on invasives" by the $$-oriented chemical companies as well as citing scientific research showing that invasives just aren't harmful => massive-scale human disturbance is.
As an herbalist and plant lover, it's hard to imagine that any plant as ill-will. And, Timothy writes elegantly about how certain invasive species came to be and how we can tap into their medicine. Not only are invasives amazing at accumulating and denaturing toxic chemicals, heavy metals, and other pollutants, many are high in flavonoids and antioxidants to curb free radical damage in the human body. As well, many of these plants have either proven or are being researched as chelators for chelators for the human body.
The message is: what the plants are doing for the earth, they are doing for your human, inner ecosystem as well.
Timothy references TCM, Ayurvedic, and traditional Western literature for uses of each plant as well. A great read!
The only reason I gave this a four was that the writing style, at times, was a little awkward to me.
As an herbalist and plant lover, it's hard to imagine that any plant as ill-will. And, Timothy writes elegantly about how certain invasive species came to be and how we can tap into their medicine. Not only are invasives amazing at accumulating and denaturing toxic chemicals, heavy metals, and other pollutants, many are high in flavonoids and antioxidants to curb free radical damage in the human body. As well, many of these plants have either proven or are being researched as chelators for chelators for the human body.
The message is: what the plants are doing for the earth, they are doing for your human, inner ecosystem as well.
Timothy references TCM, Ayurvedic, and traditional Western literature for uses of each plant as well. A great read!
The only reason I gave this a four was that the writing style, at times, was a little awkward to me.
May 8, 2015
Excellent choice for an herbal student! Great information about the plants the rest of the world hates.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews