Alaska's Wild Plants, Revised Edition. Janice J. Schofield

       INTRODUCTION

      Over two and a half decades have passed since the original publication of Alaska’s Wild Plants. During that time, interest in wild plants has soared. More enthusiasts than ever flock to plant classes, buy plant books, and head to the wild. The motivation for many is similar to what first stirred me to forage: supplementary and emergency food, and deeper connection to plants and the natural world.

      Alaska is an extreme place to live with its short, intense growing season. In the endless summer light, plants gallop from sprout to seed. Though more and more tunnel houses have been erected in Alaskan towns and villages for extending the gardening season, the hardy wild remains a source of nutrient dense plants, combined with the fun of gathering.

      Alaska is also where outdoor adventurers abound and there is higher risk of getting lost, stranded, or injured out in the wild. Knowing how to use the wild green helpers for first aid can be lifesaving. This revised updated edition expands knowledge of using herbs for health purposes. See page 182 for directions on preparing herbal poultices, ointments, infusions, decoctions, and tinctures.

      Foraging requires developing observational skills like learning to recognize plants in varying stages of growth. Gatherers must differentiate between the herbal helpers and the inedible plants. This book is intended as one guide in your journey.

      A book of this size, ideal for the backpack and replete with details of how to incorporate these plants into your life, cannot also be an exhaustive guide to identification. It’s intended as an adjunct to heftier tomes like Discovering Wild Plants (with detailed line drawings by R.W. Tyler and photos of the plants throughout the growing season), Beverly Gray’s The Boreal Herbal, Verna Pratt’s many photographic guides, and academic plant keys. Countless online reference materials are also available. If you have any doubt of a plant’s identity, cross-check with other sources. See page 190 for my recommended reading.

How This Book is Organized

      Plants, like people, live in communities. Plants that flourish together share affinity for certain soils, lighting conditions, moisture, salinity, or altitude. For this reason, this book is organized by habitat. Once you find one of the plants in a section, you are likely to meet many of the companions listed. Beach plants, for example, will be not be found anywhere except near ocean shores.

      However, some plants, like blueberry, are highly adaptable. Blueberries range from bog to forest to alpine. Hence, a new category in this edition has been added: Free-Range Plants. This section is an excellent starting point for readers, as it also develops awareness of the floral patterns of plant families like mustard. Learn to recognize the characteristic structure of a mustard flower, and a vast “friendly family” of plants is at your service.

      Within each section, plants are grouped by similar type. In Sea & Sandy Shores, the seaweeds sequentially follow each other, then the shore plants. Within Forests & Open Woods, all the trees are sequential, followed by the understory plants.

      The habitat sections are explained in detail at the beginning of each new segment of the book. Each section is also coded with a color for easy reference.

Before You Begin

      1 Review the Caution sections carefully. Some plants, such