lyagushka's Full Review: Richard H. Uva, Joseph M. Ditomaso, Joseph C. Neal...
I received a complimentary copy of Weeds of the Northeast at a gardening seminar early last year. This isn't what I would call light reading material; pretty much a detailed and well assembled field guide. This guide was researched and written with the intention of helping to eradicate or at least control the less than welcome botanical specimens that turn up in agricultural fields and home gardens. Weeds of the Northeast does this by offering excruciatingly precise taxonomic information, and also growing habits on each plant covered.
The first part of the book is literally a taxonomic diagnosis section, which allows the reader to follow an if-then flow chart to identify a given weed. This sometimes requires such close examination that a magnifying loop will be needed to distinguish, say, quackgrass from goosegrass. Nonetheless, this heavily scientific section will let those patient and meticulous enough figure out precisely which weed they've got on their hands.
The majority of the book however is taken up with two-page listings of each of the weeds. These facing pages feature detailed textual discriptions on the left page, and several color photographs on the right page. The text includes information such as the scientific name and "Bayer" code (which must mean something to botanists, but not to me), alternative names, propagation methods, minute physical descriptions of the seedling and mature plant including root systems and underground portions, habitat, range and distribution, and also any similar or look-alike species. The photographs tend to show the distinctive and diagnostic features of each plant, including flowers if any, leaf shape, sometimes the cotyledon leaves or root systems, and also the seeds.
The book is clearly made for rough use in the field. Though cloth bound, the covers are coated for water resistance, and the stitching of the binding is quite sturdy. The research is thorough and reassuringly authoritative, as one would expect of a book published by a university press (Cornell, in this case). As can further be expected of a scientific book however, there isn't much lyricism in the writing. Dry but effective is how I would describe it.
Not having gardened for too many years in my present location, I found this book very useful in identifying what is growing around me. What I've most appreciated about Weeds of the Northeast is that it has helped me identify several common weeds that are actually edible. With the help of this book I identified lambsquarters, purslane, and burdock. We've eaten some of these since I found out what they were, and others have gone to feed my hens. Weeds of the Northeast doesn't give much attention to edibility as a quality of weeds, but it does include terse mention of the fact where applicable. I was especially interested to read the assertion that the ripe fruit of eastern deadly nightshade (which volunteers in my garden) is quite safely edible, even if the rest of the plant and the unripe berries are toxic. I don't know why it should be so, but I feel better about knowing the names of various weeds, even when I haven't learned anything about them that redeems them in my mind.
The textual descriptions of the weeds contain a lot of botanical terminology which would be unfamiliar to most readers. The glossary at the back of the book explains all of these clearly however.
If there's one shortcoming to Weeds of the Northeast, it might be a shortage of information on weeds at the emergence or cotyledon stage. I say "might" because many seedlings of different species can look extremely similar at this stage. There were times in the early spring when I would have like to have been able to identify the newest shoots volunteering in my garden. But identification is difficult until the plants get a bit older, at which point they are harder to get rid of.
I don't know that I would have bought this book myself had it not been given to me. But it has seen some use in the year and a half I've had it, and I'm glad it's on my bookshelf. Needless to say, it would be of interest only to those who farm or garden in the northeastern US or southeastern reaches of Canada. Among that population it will probably only appeal to those who farm or garden organically, since the default approach in "conventional" agriculture is to obliterate anything unwanted with dangerous chemicals. If you fall into these categories and have a penchant for identifying things, it might be for you.
An alternate selection of the Garden Book Club "Knowing your opponents is the first step in weed prevention. Weeds of the Northeast is businesslike an...More at HotBookSale
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