Please click here for free access to Michael Moore's online SWSBM programs. These lectures represent Michael's herbal wisdom and the unique knowledge that he accumulated during three decades of teaching and a lifetime of studying medicinal plants.

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This is Anarcho-Herbalism - an essay by Laurel Luddite

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Master Genus Index integrating ALL plant photographs, illustrations, maps, abstracts, constituents, monographs, major papers and folios by genus and species. (updated as of 9/05) 220K

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Medicinal Plant Images

Medicinal Plant Photographs by genus.
Over 2,500 JPEGS of medicinal plants, photographed variously by friends too numerous to list...arranged alphabetically by genus, with complete thumbnail index files.
Video clips of medicinal plants (2/06) - Short videos (1/2 minute to 1 minute) of 252 plants in the field: Quicktime (.mov) files, 240X180

New Images (9/05) - 100 new photographs and videocaptures by David Rodriquez, Greta Anderson and myself, all with linked thumbnails (a very strange visual).

Index of 1200+ plant pictures by North American English and Spanish Names (as of 7/26/97...MUST update)
Illustrations: 165 classic engravings and illustrations of drug plants and herbs
Color Illustrations - 175 elegant lithographs of medicinal plants from the first quarter of the 20th century by Mary Vaux Walcott
Color Illustrations from the National Geographic Society, 1915-1924...elegant and articulate representations of 175 medicinal plants found in North America.
Pen and Ink Drawings of Western North American plants by botanical artist Mimi masquerading, in both jpeg format (for monitor viewing) and gif format (for computer printing)

Medicinal Plant excerpts - Britton & Brown Illustrated Flora - 2nd Edition (1913) "An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada"

VOLUME I - Ophioglossaceae to Polygonaceae - 149 individual plant files, each with illustration, taxonomy, distribution and current botanical name

VOLUME II - Amaranthaceae to Loganaceae - 451 individual plant files, each with illustration, taxonomy, distribution and current botanical name

VOLUME III - Gentianaceae to Compositae - 368 individual plant files, each with illustration, taxonomy, distribution and current botanical name

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Texts and Manuals by Michael Moore

Herb Manuals by Michael Moore, and and other teaching material from SWSBM.
These are available in either ASCII (text) files, or Acrobat PDF files. New: 2005-2006 Menstrual Calendar

Herb Folios by Michael Moore
Acrobat PDF files of individual plants, with photos, drawings, and a brief discussion of preparations, uses, specific indications and any contraindications.

Lectures in Botanical Materia Medica - some mp3 excerpts from the 4-CD-ROM set.

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Fenner's Complete Formulary and Handbook (1888)

Unlike such official pharmaceutical texts as the U.S.P, National Formulary and the U.S.Dispensatory (see below), Fenner's was meant to be a working sourcebook for the individual pharmacist desiring to furnish product for a pharmacy. Every possible product is dealt with, from tinctures to fluidextracts to dyes to wax paper to imitation booze. Not worried about the "official" status of a preparation, if there was a customer demand, Fenner dealt with it.

PART I and PART II - Introductory material; Part 1, Drugs and medicinal substances defined, Part II, methods of preparation described - 53 pages, 7 illustrations, bookmarked Acrobat (.pdf) file - 300K (1/05)

Part IIIA- WORKING FORMULA - Abstracts, alkaloids, waters, balsams, waxes, cerates, papers, colors, confections, cordials, decoctions, elixirs, plasters, emulsions, essences, extracts, distilled extracts, and fluid extracts - over 1,000 formulae in this first section alone. 242 pages, bookmarked Acrobat (.pdf) file - 1M (7/05)

Part IIIB- WORKING FORMULA - Glycerites, infusions, linaments, mucilages, oils (fixed, animal, vegetable, volatile, mixed), oleoresins, pills, pitch, powders, resins, resinoids, sugars, soaps, teas, spirits, juices, suppositories, syrups, tinctures, homeopathic preparations, triturations, troches, ointments, wines - over 1,500 formulae in this second section. 272 pages, bookmarked Acrobat (.pdf) file - 1M (12/05)

PART IV. - THE STANDARD REMEDIES AND PROPRIETARY MEDICINES. "The following formulas are designed for making a complete line of Standard Proprietary Remedies, which may be prepared and put up by druggists, or others, for local trade or for the market." - 118 pages, 236 formulae and recipes, bookmarked Acrobat (.pdf) file - 250K (1/05)

PART V. TOILET PREPARATIONS AND PERFUMES. Cosmetics, mouth products, hair products, lip salves, perfumes, colognes, sachets, etc. - 43 pages, 190 recipes, bookmarked Acrobat (.pdf) file - 130K (1/05)

PART VI. MISCELLANEOUS FORMULA. Adhesives, baking powder, inks, polishes, wines, real and artificial, varnishes, etc. - 45 pages, 180 recipes, bookmarked Acrobat (.pdf) file - 140K (1/05)

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The Dispensatory of the USA, 20th Edition (1918)

The ultimate authority in pharmacy in it's era, the 20th edition, edited by Remington and Wood, is 2000 large pages filled with small type. Though the 19th edition was less judgemental regarding unofficial medicinal plants, the 20th edition is firmer in its science and botany. Although already showing signs of belittling many plant medicines (Remington and Wood were the ultimate mainstream pharmaceutical editors), pharmacists nonetheless still had to prepare medicines for the thousands of Eclectic, Homeopathic and "irregular" licensed M.D.s that practiced, so all plants are dealt with in often painful detail. I am abridging it to include only botanicals and their preparations.

The US DISPENSATORY - 20th Ed. complete - 1576 pages, bookmarked Acrobat (.pdf) file, 1311 monographs - 4.8MB

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British Herbal Manuals

Prescriber and Clinical Repertory of Medicinal Herbs by Lt. Col. F. Harper-Shove (1938)

A minor masterpiece, long out of print, Harper-Shove assembled the first British repertory for herbalists. It follows the same model and organization as the classic homeopathic repertories. I've had it around since the early 1970's, and have frequently referred to it over the years. The complex layout and poorly cleaned type necessitated (for my own sanity) scanning the main text as bitmapped images...the rest is as true text. The layout is 11 x 81/2, two pages across...appropriate for printing.

Part 1 - 112 pages (two across) bookmarked .pdf file 2.3M

Mind, Head, Eye, Ear, Nose, Face, Mouth, Throat, Stomach, Abdomen, Liver, Spleen, Rectum, Urinary, Genitalia, Respiration

Part 2 - 110 pages (two across) bookmarked .pdf file 1.6M

Chest, Back, Extremities, Skin, Sleep, Fever, General, Specific Remedies, Contraindications, Synonyms

Herbal Manual by Harold Ward (1936)115 page bookmarked .pdf file 288K.

A lovely pocket manual I've used for years. As with many others from the era, the primary influence, besides English and continental herb traditions, was the later Thomsonians. The manual has a good Anglo-centric history of herb usage and 153 concise herb monographs.

The Working Man's Model Family Botanic Guide by William Fox, M.D. , 23rd edition (1924)

This book may have been the most widely used herb book of its era in Great Britain. A peculiar mixture of American Thomsonian and physiomedicalist philosophy, "Muscular Christianity," and common sense, the Foxes (three generations were involved in the various editions) took their effort seriously, similar in intent to the American populist medical "everyman" manuals of the second half of the 19th century. It is a refreshing glimpse into late Victorian alternative, and by inference, Standard Practice Medicine.

Part 1 - Materia Medica, Health - 91 page bookmarked .pdf file, 1M, 70 illustrations

Part 2 - Diseases - Their Cause and Cure, Formulas, etc. - 148 page bookmarked .pdf file, 970K

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Eclectic Medicine, Materia Medica and Pharmacy - classic texts

Why do I keep putting up these Eclectic works? In 1990 I visited the Lloyd Library in Cincinnati, Ohio, where, in the basement, I found the accumulated libraries of ALL the Eclectic medical schools, shipped off to the Eclectic Medical College (the "Mother School") as, one by one, they died. Finally, even the E. M.C. died (1939) and there they all were, holding on by the slimmest thread, the writings of a discipline of medicine that survived for a century, was famous (or infamous) for its vast plant materia medica, treated the patient and NOT the pathology, a sophisticated model of vitalist healing every bit as usable as Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurvedic medicine...and molding in front of my eyes. Homeopathy survives, and still reprints its classic texts...it doesn't need help. The Eclectics do.

History of the Vegetable Drugs of the U.S.P. (1911) 560K, 182 pages, bookmarked acrobat (.pdf) file

Lloyd details the introduction, from tradition into Euro-American medicine, of all the plant drugs in the 1900 United States Pharmacopoeia, with a monster bibliography.

The Eclectic Practice of Medicine by Rolla L. Thomas, M.D. (1907).

Published by Scudder, this was the primary teaching manual at the Eclectic Medical College. A big book, 1039 pages, it is organized into 9 files.

Eclectic Biographies by Harvey Wickes Felter, 1912

Dr. John King - 118 Pages, bookmarked .pdf file, 8 illustrations - 1.1 MB

Dr. A. J. Howe - 125 Pages, bookmarked .pdf file, 10 illustrations - 465 K

Dr. John Milton Scudder - 124 Pages, bookmarked .pdf file, 8 illustrations - 368 K

Eclectic Medical Institute - 24 pages, bookmarked .pdf file, 15 illustrations - 208 K The alpha and omega of the Eclectic Movement, lasting from 1845 to 1939, this is Felter's "biography" of the Mother School, as of 1912, when it had already graduated 4,000 physicians and was one of the largest medical schools in the midwest.

Useful Prescriptions by Cloyce Wilson, M.D. A manual for the use of Specific Medicines, published in 1935 by Lloyd Brothers

122 pages, bookmarked .pdf file, part text, part bitmap - 2.5 MB

Lloyd Brothers plant drug pamphlets (1897 to 1915). Pamphlets and folios on Aloes, Belladonna, Fringetree, Turkey Corn, Wild Yam, Gelsemium, Hydrastis, Alfalfa, Nux Vomica, Pomegranate Night-Blooming Cereus, Damiana, Colocynth, Copaiba, Croton Oil, Calabar Bean, Strophanthus, Coca, Hamamelis, Columbo, Ipecac, and some miscellaneous writings.
Sayre's Manual of Organic Materia Medica and Pharmacognosy

A pharmacist's text from 1917 (4th edition) describing 621 plant and animal drugs, their sources, constituents, preparations and physical nature, with over 300 illustrations. The book is divided into 6 Acrobat files

The Eclectic Materia Medica, Pharmacology and Therapeutics by Harvey Wickes Felter, M.D.
The classic text from 1922 in an abridged form (botanicals only), by letter or as a single book...acrobat files only, as well as all 24 black-and-white photographs from the original edition.

American Materia Medica, Therapeutics and Pharmacognosy by Finley Ellingwood, M.D.

The classic Eclectic medical text from 1919, by chapter and group or as an alphabetical botanical-only version.

Fyfe's Materia Medica by John William Fyfe, M.D. (Eclectic Manual #6, 1903)
Besides the clarity of therapeutic uses, this manual is important for the number of little-known but common American botanicals that he treats...such "new" remedies as Ailanthus, Ambrosia, Catalpa, Clematis, Kalmia, Oxydendron, Polemonium and Rhododendron...cool.
Culbreth's Materia Medica and Pharmacology
The classic 1927 pharmacist's textbook, listing all plant drugs that were or had been official in the U.S.P. and N.F....acrobat files only.
Materia Medica and Clinical Therapeutics (1907) by Fred Petersen, M.D.

A delightful and provocative physician's "how-to" workbook that combines botanicals, homeopathics, electricity, even light therapy, written by an insightful rural Californian Eclectic physician.

A Therapeutic Guide to Alkaloidal Dosimetric Medication by John M. Shaller M.D - 1907

This was the best known of the "Dosimetric" medical manuals in the U.S. A widespread rather holistic model of medicine that was practiced in both Europe and the United States, it focused on non-toxic administration of minute amount of refined drugs ("granules") to modify inflammation and fevers.

The Eclectic Alkaloids by John Uri Lloyd

Lloyds careful delineation of how explotation and bad manufacturing almost killed the Medical Reform Movement of the 19th century - a cautionary tale for herbalists. (1910)

Elixirs And Flavoring Extracts: Their History, Formulae, & Methods of Preparation, by John Uri Lloyd (1892)

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Eclectic and Pharmaceutical Journals - classic texts

American Journal of Pharmacy (111 issues )

Acrobat files of herb and plant monographs and citations from one of the most influential pharmaceutical publications of the 1880s and 1890s
Ellingwood's Therapeutist Complete texts (21 issues)
Acrobat and text reprints of issues of ELLINGWOOD'S THERAPEUTIST, from 1908 to 1915, edited by Finley Ellingwood, M.D., possibly the most charismatic and perceptive clinician of the final and most productive decades of the American Eclectic Medical Movement. The Therapeutist dealt only with clinical observations, reports, editorial, and materia medica.
The National Eclectic Medical Association Quarterly Select papers (8 issues)

Transactions of the National Eclectic Medical Association

Select papers on botanical medicine and sundry from the annual convention reports, 1881-2, 1882-3, 1888-9, 1895-6 (vols. 9.10, 16 and 23)

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Herbology and Herb Growing - classic texts

AMERICAN MEDICINAL LEAVES AND HERBS, Henkel, A., USDA Bulletin #219, 1911, 1st ed.. Illustrated guide for wild crafters.

A delightful USDA manual for the identification and processing of 36 leafy and bundly herbs. 52 Pages, bookmarked .pdf file, 36 photographs - 5.4 MB

Herbal Pharmacology in the People's Republic of China

"During the month of June 1974, twelve U.S. specialists in chemistry, medicine, pharmacology, pharmacognosy, pharmacy, and Chinese culture visited a series of major Chinese cities for the purpose of assessing the current status of herbal pharmacology (both basic and clinical) in the People's Republic of China."

So begins this late Nixon-era publication from the National Academy of Sciences. The Red Guards were muttering off in the provinces, China was now "in", acupuncture was being "studied" in the US and many things Chinese were now politically correct. This delegation was sent to the PRC to check out the uses of herbs within Chinese medicine, struggling to its feet after nearly a decade of intellectual and political nihilism, and it offers insights into that time and into how western pharmaceutical folks viewed Chinese herbs. It examined in detail the verifiable effects of over 250 chinese herbs, while missing totally the energetics of therapy. I ate the book up when it first came out, and, with so many more "correct" works since published, the TCM community seems to have forgotten this arcane but sensible first peek into Chinese Herbal Medicine. 255 pages, bookmarked Acrobat (.pdf) file - 740K

Illustrated Phytotherapy, Vols. 1 and 2 by Thomas Deschauer

These are two delightful books written by a little-known nature-curist and herbalist who practiced in Maywood, Illinois, from the mid 1930s to the end of WWII. I know nothing more about him, but I presume he was one of the German charismatic healers, like Lust, Ehret and Mausert, that immigrated to the USA between the wars. There are over 300 illustrations

Mausert's Formulas (1932) by OTTO MAUSERT, ND

Useful Wild Plants of the United States and Canada by Charles Francis Saunders.

Ginseng and Other Medicinal Plants by A.R. Harding

Written in 1909 and 1912, and taken from the final revision of 1936, this was THE book on Ginseng and Golden Seal cultivation for many decades.

The Cascara Tree in British Columbia by John Davidson.

A 1942 British Columbian Govt. publication discusses how to and not to harvest Cascara Sagrada, how to coppice and cultivate the native bush, and then offers an even-handed method for regulating wildcrafting. A good model for dealing with current overpicking.

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Thomsonian Medicine - classic texts

The Life and Medical Discoveries of Samuel Thomson by John Uri Lloyd - 1909

This review includes Thomson's autobiography, the transcripts of the trial of Dr. Frost, the Thomsonian Materia Medica, and correspondence of involved parties...enough to give one a detailed picture of the importance of the movement and the harshness of its suppression, deriving out of Federalist, class and Anti-Masonic politics .

A GUIDE TO HEALTH (1848) By Benjamin Colby. Perhaps the best text by any Thomsonian practitioner.

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Ethnobotany and Traditional Plant Uses - classic texts

Uses of Plants by the Indians of the Missouri River Region - M. R. Gilmore - The classic work from the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1912, treating medicinal and edible plants used by the Dakota, Omaha/Ponca, Winnebago and Pawnee peoples. Gilmore treats 180 plants, and offers 16 pages of tables of names in various languages. This is perhaps the best text of its kind, and was compiled early enough that Gilmore was able to interview and learn from many ageing traditionalists of the plains peoples.

Uses of Plants by the Indians of the Missouri River Region - Text - 115 pages, 16 pages of name tables, bookmarked Acrobat (.pdf) file - 1M

Uses of Plants by the Indians of the Missouri River Region - Plates - 56 photographs - Acrobat (.pdf) file - 1.6M

STURTEVANTS EDIBLE PLANTS OF THE WORLD Edited by U. P. Hedrick with updated botanical names by Michael Moore

Edward Lewis Sturtevant (1842-1898), farmer, botanist, physician and author, was one of the giants of his time in the science of agriculture. His "Notes" were edited after his death by Hedrick and published in 1919 by the New York Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, N.Y. I have appended current botanical names (A mixture of BONAPS and Willis, 8th Edition), deleted the 3,000 footnotes but retained the 68 pages of bibliography.

775 pages, bookmarked Acrobat (.pdf) file - 1.6M

DESERT PLANTS AND PEOPLE by Sam Hicks

(Acrobat File) 1.4 M, 105 Pages, 89 black and white photographs, bookmarked, 1966

Hicks was a Cavalryman, rancher and tracker, who worked in the last decades of his life as the outfitter, ranch manager and friend of Erle Stanley Gardner in that author's many excursions into Baja California and Sonora. Hicks learned traditional curandismo and country ways from Mexican and Mission Indians...traditions already then fading. Published too soon (or too late), by a long defunct regional publisher, written by a "layman", it is a remarkable little book about plants and methods little discussed, in a region often ignored. There is also a long excerpt by a friend from Alpine, Texas, W. D. Smithers, discussing similar experiences with healing herbs and the curandismo of the Big Bend area. The book has puzzled many, as the plants are only identified by photographs and obscure local names - I have added the scientific names (no small task!)

Classic Ethnobotanical texts.

Materia Medica of the Bella Coola and Neighboring Tribes of British Columbia By Harlan I. Smith

Ethnobotany of the Forest Potawatomi by Huron H. Smith

Ethnobotany of the Zuñi Indians By Matilda Coxe Stevenson.

Ethnobotany of the Gosiute Indians of Utah by Ralph V. Chamberlin.

Ethnobotany of the Menomini Indians by Huron H. Smith

Ethnobotany of the Tewa Indians by Robbins, Harrington and Friere-Marreco

Useful Wild Plants of the United States and Canada by Charles Francis Saunders.

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Medicinal Plants: Research, Resources, FAQs, Regional plant checklists

Plant Constituents Taken from a variety of sources, these are the known constituents for over 250 plant medicines
Research Abstracts Abstracts from the last 10 years on 148 different genus of medicinal plants, and links to further information

Distribution Maps 294 distribution maps of medicinal plants found in the western United States.
Western State Flora Checklists. These are Acrobat and text files of checklists of some of the western states, with special emphasis on changes in taxonomic nomenclature important to field herbalists.
Finished states are Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
Bioregional Herb Resources: former students and friends that sell ethically wildcrafted or organically grown bulk herbs and tinctures, that are in practice, or that, in turn, have their OWN schools. We MUST avoid centralization of the herb industry...these are herbalists and sources of materials of use for the hundreds of regional herbalists and small manufacturers of botanical products around the United States...as well those that prefer LOCAL herbs. (6/05)
The remarkably useful Medicinal Herb FAQ and Culinary Herb FAQ, maintained by Henriette Kress for the newsgroup alt.folklore.herbs.

 

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Link for information and freeware readers for Adobe Acrobat.

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Commercial publications by Michael Moore: Information and sources

Lecturesin Botanical Materia Medica by Michael Moore

a 4 CD-ROM set of 150 hours of class and field lectures in mp3 format recorded during the 2002 program .
BOOKS:
Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West (2nd Edition)
Medicinal Plants of the Desert and Canyon West
Los Remedios
Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West
Healing Herbs of the Upper Rio Grande (Edited and Revised)
Herbs for the Urinary Tract
...and our Clinical Manuals in hard copy
VIDEOS:
MEDICINAL PLANTS: in the field with MICHAEL MOORE
Volume 1. RIO GRANDE GORGE
Volume 2. THE SOUTHERN ROCKIES
SOFTWARE:
Herbal Resource Guide

for Windows or Mac

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Before I was an herbalist, I was a musician and composer. Just to learn how, I have been transferring some of my symphonic music from flaking tape to digital files. You can download some mp3 files here. Now including my Symphony #2 - The Anasazi

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Thanks to Henriette Kress, these materials are available from her mirror site at the ftpmirror, ftp://henriettesherbal.com/SWSBM

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My favorite (unsponsored) links

Wild Ride Beef Jerky and beef sticks

Ran across this product whilst zipping through the food coop in Silver City, NM...we crashed through 4 ounces of the teriyaki jerky before we hit Colorado. No nitrates, none of those neuroexcitants like MSG, just papain-softened normally flavored beef...and the teriyaki and barbecue flavours are low sodium!

Herbal Vade Mecum by Gazmen Skenderi (email)

Dr. Skenderi has written perhaps the best simple reference book on herbs I have seen in decades...657 1/2 page to full page monographs on herbs, EOs and lipids, using sources ranging from the Eclectics to British phytotherapy, Pacific Rim and European research and personal experience. Drawing on 30 years as a phytopharmacist and pharmacognosist, he has a knack for emphasizing reliable research, practical uses and pertinent contraindications. A compact, dense, authoritative and thoughtful reference book that I highly recommend. It can be purchased by check or money order (payable to Herbacy Press) from Herbacy Press, 144 Wheaton Place, Rutherford, NJ 07070. US Orders: $24.95 + $2.95 (S&H; delivery: 3-8 business days) $24.95 + $4.95 (S&H; delivery: 2-3 business days) New Jersey residents have to add 6% to the book price. International Orders: $24.95 + $14.95 (S&H; delivery 7-10 business days)

The Pine Nut People and home of Piñon Penny

Sources of native Pine Nuts, Piñon Coffee, recipes, and links to lots of information about how poor forest management and drought has laid low the whole idea of renewable forest products. Activists AND merchants...the best combination.

Montina Gluten-free grain and flour

These Montana folks are growing a variety of Indian Rice Grass (a perennial grain...hooray) that tastes fantastic and is gluten free.We had a gluten-reactive friend over for thanksgiving and fixed her up some Montina stuffing...her first in years. Makes great pancakes and muffins.

Herbal Medicine & Spirit Healing the Wise Woman Way

Plenty of articles, resources and links. Information on Susun Weed's workshops, intensives, apprenticeships and correspondence courses.

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Started in 1994, this site was maintained by Michael Moore, and was last updated by him on July 22, 2008

When my typewriter broke 14 years ago, I grudgingly purchased my first computer at age 53...an ancient used Mac Plus, recommended for low-tech ageing neo-Luddite green hippies such as myself. 12 computers, 4 scanners, 8 powerbooks, 4 digital cameras, 3 LCD projectors and 3 mini DV cameras later, I STILL have two unused ribbons left over from that Smith-Corona.

All OCR work is done with FineReader 5 Pro by ABBYY (the best! from crazed Russian software techies)

If an ol' bear like me can pull this off, imagine what YOU could do for our collective benefit!
Send comments, complaints, input and new site information to...hrbmoore@mindspring.com

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