‍Edible and Medicinal Flora of the West Coast: British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest by Collin Varner (Heritage House) is a compact “forager’s guide” that feels like it should be slipped into a backpack instead of admired on a coffee table. The entries give you enough information to identify all sorts of plants and fungi, with large photographs, general descriptions (which perhaps feel a bit sparse and to-the-point), etymology, habitat, origin, edibility, the best season to find each particular species and, where known, their traditional or medicinal uses. The book closes with a dozen or so recipes for intriguing dishes like four clover stir-fry and birch syrup granola. While billing itself as a guide for foraging edible plants, Varner cautions the reader about the toll over-foraging can take on the sensitive ecosystem. He advises the reader to educate themselves on foraging best practices and to be careful about harvesting and eating anything from the wild. This is echoed in the foreword by sen̓áḵw ethnobotanist Senaqwila Wyss, who encourages the reader to support the ecosystem by taking only what they need. In a time when foraging for wild food is fashionable, I was pleased to see these acknowledgements. One day in early spring, I did slip this guide into my coat pocket when I went for a walk with my mother. Not much was growing yet in the underforest of the Fraser Valley, but the ferns were unfurling and we had fun trying to identify them. The only one we could be sure of was the licorice fern creeping up the mossy trunk of a century maple. We left it intact. I found myself wishing that the images in the book’s entries showed the plant in more than one state, since we sometimes found it hard to match young shoots with the mature specimens in the photos. I’m looking forward to taking this book out again later in the season.

—Kelsea O’Connor

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