The Encyclopedia of Edible Plants of North America

by Francois Couplan; Keats Publishing, 1998; ISBN 0-87983-821-3

Review by Jim Smith

This book written by a French ethnobotanist catalogs information on more than 4,000 edible plants in North America. It provides information on the etymology, geographic distribution, cultivation and chemistry, some medicinal uses as well as other uses.

The Foreword by James Duke, retired USDA Economic Botanist, alludes to Couplan's "grazing" research while living off the land in North America between 1974 and 1984. James Duke claimed that Couplan "survived primarily on the plants he encountered as he walked around the country belongings on his back." However, there is little documentation to support the living off the land claim. In fact, many claims of edibility are not well-supported and I would be dubious about using it as an authority for edibility. For example, under Pyrularia pubera (Buffalo Nut) is the notation: The fruit is reported to be edible, but it is bitter and known to be strongly cathartic. This is at odds with the Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas, which reports, The fruit is very poisonous. The book while fact-filled also relates some of the authors strong opinions which are not well-supported by facts.

The book is an interesting read, but I would not rely on its claims of edibility for plants I did not know without confirmation from another reliable source. The book would have been better had it been less encyclopedic and better researched.