Books on trees and edible plants

[Nomad]

My knowledge of trees and edible plants is somewhat limited. Trees are the big woody things with leaves, and the latter are things that you can grow or buy in the supermarket.

What I'd like is a book that is good for use in the field so that I can learn more about both. For trees, something that shows the main bits of info, like typical size, branch structure/shape, leaves, seeds, blossom, and maybe some general info about what the species can be used for. For edible plants, similar, but with info on nutrition and maybe some suggestions for how to use them in meals.

Is there a single book that covers both? If not, what are good books to consider for each?

I'm looking for something made of paper, here - no web sites, or Kindle files, or PDFs, or coffee table mega-tomes. Something I can carry with me and refer to.

 

[Man of Tanith]

Collins gems are always good
maybe not everything you have listed will be in there but small packable and easy to use at reasonable prices

 

[Shewie]

Mabey's Food for Free is a handy wee book to get you started

 

[Nomad]

Thanks, chaps. The Food For Free one looks just the ticket. I might have to look at the Trees one to see what I think. Will go on a bookshop forage tomorrow.

 

[Harvestman]

There are several good trees books, but the Collins guides are well respected.

I've said this before, but when it comes to books about edibles, there is no single book that does the job. There are books like Food for Free which will tell you what is edible, and are excellent, but they won't tell you how to reliably identify those plants and distinguish them from the non-edibles and poisonous species. For that you need a good plant identification guide. Same for fungi.

Just because you know that, for example, nettles are edible, does not mean you can reliably distinguish nettles from something with a similar shaped leaf that is not edible.

I'm not meaning to sound discouraging - quite the opposite. it hink the more people who can identify things arnd forage well, the better. It is just that there is no quick fix. It takes time.

 

[Nomad]

I'm not looking for a quick fix, or assuming that it doens't take time. I do, however, have to start somewhere, with something.

 

[udamiano]

Can I suggest starting with a simple book on trees first. Learn about them first. I have found over the years that when people buy loads of books covering such a large topic area, the information doesn't quite go in as well. As they have information overload ! Focus on a single section first before moving on to the next. Personally I would recommend Trees first. Any of the books mentioned above are good. Better to use them as field guides, it's much more fun that way.
Da

 

[Nomad]

Can I suggest starting with a simple book on trees first. Learn about them first. I have found over the years that when people buy loads of books covering such a large topic area, the information doesn't quite go in as well. As they have information overload !

Surely that depends on the individual?

Focus on a single section first before moving on to the next. Personally I would recommend Trees first. Any of the books mentioned above are good. Better to use them as field guides, it's much more fun that way.

The way I see it, trees and edible plants are two separate subjects, and there is no reason not to have both books. I am not of the opinion that it's only possible to learn about one thing over a given period of time. One could do either on any given day, and the idea is to have both books available to facilitate that.

 

[Big Stu 12]

I've found the Collins Gems to be good, and they easily fit in the end pocket of a Response Pack

 

[Geoff Dann]

Personally I would recommend Trees first.

I wouldn't! Or at least, I wouldn't recommend going into the detail of tree identification beyond the really common species. As soon as you starting dipping into the more obscure stuff, it gets very hard very quickly. This is particularly true with conifers (all of which are non-native except for scots pine and juniper - which is quite odd when you consider how many non-native conifers do very well in our climate.) There's just too many different species of pine, larch, etc..., and they are so similar that you need to be a botanist to tell them apart.

 

[Seoras]

A book I get my students to use for trees is 'Spot 50 Trees' which has links to the Nature Detectives site. A very simple and easy to use book for all ages with some nice facts on uses and history/folklore.

For flowers I would recommend 'The Wildflowers of Britain and Ireland' by Charles Coates. I posted a thread to this recently as I only just discovered the book. Easy reference and lots of facts, uses, history etc.

Cheers

George