EARLY AMERICAN GARDENS

The author has assembled from diaries, letters, lists, a grouping of over 200 plants known to and used by the early settlers for ""meate and medicine."" In the appendix these plants are listed by the seventeenth century popular name and the modern botanical tag. Also there is an indication of use and a general description. In the body of the book, the author meanders through her sources--Gerard and Johnson, Parkinson, Culpeper and Evelyn--sources available to the settlers. The author obviously enjoys her stroll through gardens of necessity, comfort and enterprise and this is a pleasant pilgrimage. With about 70 prints, a bit heavy perhaps as a field guide to plants ""escaped"" and running wild, but an excellent staple in the areas of Americana, medicine and botany.