Sonoran Desert Food Plants is specifically designed for the hiker, camper, hunter, or survivalist who is in need of a concise, no-nonsense booklet instructing on the collection, preparation, and utilization of 50 regional edible plants. Essentially: find it, gather it, and eat it. 77 color photos, state-by-state location maps, common and scientific names, preparation and toxicity issues, and concise medicinal and related ethnobotanical uses serve as accents making Sonoran Desert Food Plants a must-have desert-rat resource.Readers will also find Kane's approach to the material refreshingly objective and on-target: no philosophical ramblings and epicurean cookbook recipes, just stripped-down, sensical information on how to best utilize the most common wild desert food plants of the Sonoran region.Printed and bound in the USA.Check out Kane's Medicinal Plants of the American Southwest for a more in-depth approach to the utilization of southwestern plants for medicine.

“It is a simple equation,” writes Terry Tempest Williams, “place + people = politics.” Nowhere is this more apparent than in the American West, where millions of acres of wilderness are at stake in the redrock desert of southern Utah. “How are we to find our way toward conversation?” she asks. One story at a time. Red traces Williams’s lifelong love of and commitment to the desert, as she explores what draws us to a place and keeps us there. It brings together the lyrical evocations of Coyote’s Canyon and Desert Quartet with new essays of great power and originality, essays that range from a family discussion on the desert tortoise to an investigation of slowness to startling encounters with Anasazi artifacts (including a ceremonial sash made of scarlet macaw feathers).Pursuing the question of why America’s redrock wilderness matters to the soul of this country, Red bridges the divide between the political and the poetic and shows how this harshest and most fragile of landscapes inspires a soulful return to “wild mercy.” The preservation of wildness is not simply a political process but a spiritual one. With grace, humor, and the subtleties of her perception, Williams reminds us of what we have forgotten in the chaos of our lives and what can be reclaimed in the stillness of the desert. Red is further proof that the writings of Terry Tempest Williams possess a revelatory power and an emotional intelligence at once rare and authentic.

Covering more than 160 southwestern plant medicines, within 100 profiles, Medicinal Plants of the American Southwest clearly explains each plant's medicinal use, therapeutic indication, geographic range, botanical description, preparation, dosage, and caution(s). Common and scientific names and chemical breakdown are also specifically detailed for each plant. A complete preparation segment includes instruction on the use and making of teas, tinctures, syrups, salves, ointments, oils, washes, fomentations, and other modes of application. Readers will also find the therapeutic index, glossary, bibliography, and the exhaustive index valuable additions to the book. Nearly 100 color photos further assist the reader in plant identification. Crucifixion thorn (Castela), Elephant tree (Bursera), and Pipevine (Aristolochia) are new profiles for this edition.First published in 2006, reprinted in 2007, and then revised for a second edition in 2009 as Herbal Medicine of the American Southwest, Medicinal Plants of the American Southwest is considered by most familiar with Kane's writing to be his seminal work. Still today this title continues to inform and inspire all who find interest in the therapeutic uses of southwestern plants.Printed and bound in the USA.

Childs answers the call of fierce places; the more desolate the landscape, the more passionately he is drawn to it. For Childs, these are the types of terrain that sharpen the senses, and demand a physicality the modern civilized world no longer requires. Includes black-and-white photos and pen-and-ink drawings by the author.

The Sonoran Desert is one of the most wildly diverse and fascinating regions in the world. Covering southeastern California, the southern half of Arizona, most of Baja California, and much of the state of Sonora, Mexico, this vast area is home to an amazing variety of plants and animals. Its terrain varies dramatically, from parched desert lowlands to semiarid tropical forests and frigid subalpine meadows. A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert provides the most complete collection of Sonoran Desert natural history information ever compiled and is a perfect introduction to this biologically rich desert of North America.The authors--experts in many fields--begin with a general look at the region's geology, paleoecology, climate, human ecology, and biodiversity. The book then looks in depth at hundreds of plants, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, native fishes, and invertebrates that live in the northern part of the Sonoran Desert. Throughout, the text is supplemented with anecdotes, essays, color and black-and-white photographs, maps, diagrams, and 450 finely-rendered drawings. This comprehensive, accessible natural history is written for nonscientists and will surely become an invaluable companion for nature enthusiasts, birdwatchers, hikers, students, and anyone interested in the desert Southwest.A copublication with the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

The desert islands in the Sea of Cortez are little known except to a few intrepid tourists, sailors, and fishermen. Though at first glance these stark islands may appear barren, they are a refuge for an astounding variety of plants and animals. While many of the species are typical of the greater Sonoran Desert region, some are endemic or unique to one or two islands. For example, Isla Santa Catalina is home to the world’s only rattlesnake that has lost its ability to grow a rattle. Other islands host nesting birds, such as Isla Rasa, a tiny, flat flow of basalt lava that attracts nearly half a million elegant and royal terns and Heermann’s gulls each spring. The Desert Islands of Mexico’s Sea of Cortez is one of the few books devoted to the biogeography of this remarkable part of the world. The book explores the geologic origin of the gulf and its islands, presents some of the basics of island biogeography, details insular life—including residents of the intertidal zone —and provides a brief outlook for preserving this area. More than a simple guidebook, Aitchison’s writing will take both actual and armchair travelers through a gripping tale of natural history. Like the rest of our fragile planet, the Sea of Cortez and its islands are threatened by humans. Overfishing has eliminated or greatly diminished many fish stocks, and dams on rivers that once flowed into the gulf prevent certain nutrients from reaching the sea. The tenuousness of this area makes the book’s extraordinary photographs and the firsthand descriptions by a well-known teacher, writer, and photographer all the more compelling.

Southwestern Desert Plants is a portable reference guide featuring the most commonly seen trees, shrubs, cacti and wildflowers found in this desert region.  This pocket-sized, folding guide is printed on laminate material and can be easily carried in the field.  A map highlights parks and botanical sanctuaries, and the colorful illustrations completes this easy-to-access reference.