Medicinal Weeds and Grasses of the American Southeast, an Herbalist's Guide

This book is part of my series on the medicinal plants of the American Southeast. It focuses on plants commonly called weeds by those who do not know better.

So many plants grow wild in on our remarkably diverse region that it can be very hard to differentiate between what is a weed and a wildflower.  Originally, I had intended to include both weeds and wildflowers in this volume, along with grasses.  But, that would have resulted in a book more than 1,200 pages long!  I finally decided to only include those plants officially designated as weeds (including a few grasses) by the regional universities…. Not that they are experts.  

After all, what decides a weed?  Some of the plants listed as weeds are native, and others non-native.  Some are labeled “noxious”… as if that really means anything.  Those so labeled are considered undesirable by the “experts.”  Essentially, a weed is any herbaceous plant that grows without human assistance…. Or, put another way, it is any plant that is growing where someone doesn’t want it.  If we plant a bed of lettuce and we find chickweed growing among our lettuces, chickweed would be considered a weed.  If we grow chickweed to include in our salads, it is not a weed, regardless the name.  If we grow a lawn of ornamental grass and find dandelions, they are considered weeds.  If we grow dandelions for food and medicine, they are not.
Just as there are no truly native or invasive plants, as seeds have spread throughout the world, from place to place long before the first human foot touched the earth, there are no true weeds.  Many of the plants you will read about in this book are not only quite useful medicinally, but were brought to North America by European immigrants (and very likely by Asian and, perhaps Polynesian immigrants long before) to be grown as food and medicine.

What is nice about “weeds” is that they often grow in poor soil and in conditions that cultivated vegetables and herbs could not survive.  We do not have to till the soil, water or mulch these plants.  They are just there every year.  We have only to take the time to learn about them, identify them and harvest them.  I believe firmly that God has provided these plants for our needs, and it is a very foolish man who will curse such gifts and douse them with dangerous chemicals.  A pocket full of plantain leaves is worth far more than a manicured lawn.  Our ancestors who gave us these “weeds” must surely dismay our ignorance.

Available in paperback on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47LHTTH

Or you can buy the eBook as a .pdf directly from the author (me), for $9.99 by clicking the paypal button on this page:
https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2023/05/medicinal-weeds-and-grasses-of-american.html

This one looks awesome. I've got to finish reading herbal medicine for peppers homesteaders and permaculture people before I can get another one!

Do you have a thread where all of your work is listed?

Is Kentucky included in 'Southeast'?

Clay Bunch wrote:This one looks awesome. I've got to finish reading herbal medicine for peppers homesteaders and permaculture people before I can get another one!

Do you have a thread where all of your work is listed?

Thanks! i don't have a thread on Permies, but everything is listed at https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/

Kathleen Sanderson wrote:Is Kentucky included in 'Southeast'?

It sure is!  Really though, given the hardiness of "weeds" you will find these plants most anywhere in North America and Europe.

Great! I'm in Ky zone 6B too!

For anyone who isn't sure whether your area is covered, in Judson's book, keep in mind that plants aren't prone to paying attention to human maps and boundaries. While the plants are often most easily found in a specific region, it doesn't mean you won't find them elsewhere. For example, I'm in Central Missouri - in the region most commonly referred to as 'the midwest', yet I know that the majority of the plants in this book can also be found here. Some are probably less abundant here, but they're here. So, don't limit yourself from this book, simply because you don't live precisely within (the human construct called) the American Southeast.

Carla Burke wrote:For anyone who isn't sure whether your area is covered, in Judson's book, keep in mind that plants aren't prone to paying attention to human maps and boundaries. While the plants are often most easily found in a specific region, it doesn't mean you won't find them elsewhere. For example, I'm in Central Missouri - in the region most commonly referred to as 'the midwest', yet I know that the majority of the plants in this book can also be found here. Some are probably less abundant here, but they're here. So, don't limit yourself from this book, simply because you don't live precisely within (the human construct called) the American Southeast.

Very true, Carla - THANKS!  I got a note from an herbalist friend in Ontario yesterday saying that so far all the weeds we have in NC also grow in her region of Canada... and I'd bet that most show up in Mexico!

Judson Carroll wrote:

After all, what decides a weed?  Some of the plants listed as weeds are native, and others non-native.  Some are labeled “noxious”… as if that really means anything.  Those so labeled are considered undesirable by the “experts.”  Essentially, a weed is any herbaceous plant that grows without human assistance…. Or, put another way, it is any plant that is growing where someone doesn’t want it.  If we plant a bed of lettuce and we find chickweed growing among our lettuces, chickweed would be considered a weed.  If we grow chickweed to include in our salads, it is not a weed, regardless the name.  If we grow a lawn of ornamental grass and find dandelions, they are considered weeds.  If we grow dandelions for food and medicine, they are not.

What is nice about “weeds” is that they often grow in poor soil and in conditions that cultivated vegetables and herbs could not survive.  We do not have to till the soil, water or mulch these plants.  They are just there every year.  We have only to take the time to learn about them, identify them and harvest them.  I believe firmly that God has provided these plants for our needs, and it is a very foolish man who will curse such gifts and douse them with dangerous chemicals.  A pocket full of plantain leaves is worth far more than a manicured lawn.  Our ancestors who gave us these “weeds” must surely dismay our ignorance.

Beautifully said! I love this definition of weed. Thank you. And yes, the whole "noxious weeds" thing bothers me a lot. How does the government get to decide what will grow naturally, in God's land? It makes it sound like the weeds are somehow offensive and dirty, criminals, almost.

Yes, I love to think of "weeds" as God's provision. Your book sounds lovely.