Healing Plants of the Rocky Mountains
Darcy Williamson (Reviewed by The Editor - Rebecca Brown)
2002 From the Forest
ISBN: 0939041227 Amazon's price is: $19.95
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Illustrated by January Atkinson, an intimate journal of 31 native plants.
“An herbalist, botanist or scholar may study plants for a lifetime, becoming an authority on the general & scientific aspects of the medicinal plant kingdom--and never gain intimate knowledge of the subjects they so closely scrutinize. Such understanding comes from not only harvesting and preparing the plants for medicinal purpose, but in the actual use of them. It is through their use that one gains confidence in the truths of the plants' healing properties. With such truths comes wisdom; and through wisdom comes a deep sense of commitment to the plants' survival and environmental preservation.” Page 1
Intimate:
1. pertaining to the inmost character of a thing; fundamental.
2. most private or personal.
3. closely acquainted or associated; very familiar.
4. promoting a feeling of privacy, coziness, romance
5. resulting from careful study or investigation; thorough.
Healing Plants of the Rocky Mountains is much more than a handbook by which I can identify some plants growing in a particular region of the world. It is indeed a devotional journey into the living land wherein Darcy Williamson is content to dwell. It is a personal, scholarly, illustrated journal of her love affair with the friends who sustain her.
As she introduces each friend--Alder; Alum; Angelica; Arnica; Arrowleaf; Peony; Cascara; Chokecherry; Cleavers; Cottonwood; Cranesbill; Elder; Fir; Gentian; Gumweed; Hawthorn; Horsetail; Huckleberry; Lomatium; Oregon Grape; Pennyroyal; Pipsissewa; Skullcap; Nettle; Sweet Cicely; Sagebrush; Uva Ursi; Valerian; Virgin's Bower; Willow & Yarrow (just typing all those names is poetry!)--Darcy Williamson tells us her memories, often of when she first came upon the plant, describing the seasons, or a particular hike up a snow-covered draw, or a hillside in spring, a summer meadow.
Healing Plants of the Rocky Mountains is filled with illustrator January Atkinson's vivacious glimpses of both flora & fauna that delight the eye & ably convey the visuals needed to identify.
It was a struggle to categorize this book--was it Health, Mind & Body? It is a healing book. Did it go into Home & Garden? If you live, as I do, in the wilderness, then many of these plants' coastal cousins live in my garden. Or is it Education & Science? How to use each plant is meticulously & scientifically referenced & listed, with all necessary cautionary explanations.
As I read, I kept remembering Jean Auel's The Clan of the Cave Bear & Iza, the wise women, who found Ayla & taught her all she knew. Healing Plants of the Rocky Mountains not only teaches me to identify & use each plant, it brings up memories & makes a friend & mentor out of its author.
Healing Plants of the Rocky Mountains is as glorious a discovery as coming upon a hillside of Sagebrush basking in summer sun, or a patch of Cranesbill in the dappled forest.
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