This post is made by one of our students as part of her PDC Home Correspondence Course.
Here is a list of Internet databases and other resources that I’ve found helpful in identifying plants and their potential uses in permaculture designs.
General
- Dave’s Garden PlantFiles: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/
- Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database: http://www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au/
- The Plant List: http://www.theplantlist.org/
- University of Connecticut Plant Database (trees, shrubs and vines): http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/
- U.S. Department of Agriculture PLANTS Database: http://plants.usda.gov
North American native plants
- North American Native Plant Society Database: http://www.nanps.org/plant/plantlist.aspx
- University of Texas, Austin Native Plant Database: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/
Edible plants
- Eat the Weeds: http://www.eattheweeds.com/
- Food Plants International: http://www.foodplantsinternational.com/
- Fruitipedia – Edible Fruits of the World: http://www.fruitipedia.com/
- Natural Medicinal Herbs: http://www.naturalmedicinalherbs.net/
- Plants for a Future: http://www.pfaf.org
- UrbanEdiblesWiki: http://wiki.urbanedibles.org
Identifying uses for plants
- Dr. Duke’s Ethnobotany Database: http://www.ars-grin.gov/duke/ethnobot.html
- Natural Medicinal Herbs: http://www.naturalmedicinalherbs.net/
- Plants for a Future: http://www.pfaf.org
- University of Michigan, Dearborn Native American Ethnobotany Database:http://herb.umd.umich.edu/
Poisonous plants
- Cornell University Database of Poisonous Plants: http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration Poisonous Plant Database: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/plantox/index.cfm
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Can you tell me what field guide paperback you recommend for quick reference of pictures and plant part uses, with emphasis on medicinal uses?
I don’t think you’ll find an ideal one that combines both. I would go with the Peterson’s Field Guide series for portability and ID and something like The Earthwise Herbal by Matthew Wood for uses.