Food Plants of the Sonoran Desert

Did you know that one-fifth of Sonoran Desert plants are edible? Gourds. legumes, agaves, cacti, and even plants like cattails, lilies and palms provide an abundance of ethnobotanical resources in what some might perceive as a barren land. In Food Plants of the Sonoran Desert, author Wendy C. Hodgson presents information about 540 plants used by 50 traditional cultures of the Sonoran Desert and nearby regions. Hodgson organizes the flora by family and within these family groupings she discusses the use of specific plants as recorded historically and/or currently practiced. . The text is illustrated with line drawings and black-and-white photographs and there are four useful appendixes, one of which lists locally common plant names used solely in Baja California and Sonora along with the scientific genus and species referred to by those names. Students of ethnobotany will appreciate the extensive Literature Cited, but even an amateur plant lover can dip into this book almost anywhere and find an interesting fact.