Plants and People Project

People around the world have used plants for many purposes. You know that people have eaten many plants. Some plants have been used as dyes. Some are used to make fabrics. Others have been used to make containers, tools and modes of transportation. Some plants like cotton and flax are used to make cloth. Many plants have been used as a source of healing medicines or for spiritual rituals.

This site explores plants found in North America and some of their uses. This list is by no means complete. Warning: Some of the plants in this list could be harmful. Some are poisonous. These web pages are only meant to be informative. The author of this site does not endorse or recommend the use of these plants.

Visiting from The Birchbark House Project? Take the tour by following the green arrow path. green right facing arrow. Next

Use the Plants and People Index to look for a specific plant.

Resources:

The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers Eastern Region William A Niering 1979

The Bakken Library and Museum - A Lesson To Dye For

Botanical.com - A Modern Herbal

California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc. Fruit Facts

Connecticut Botanical Society - Wildflowers and ferns Kudos to them for creating and maintaining such a rich online resource!

Cornell University - Poisonous Plants Informational Database

Encyclopedia of North American Indians - Food and Cuisine

Field Guide to Trees of the Eastern Region National Audobon Society, Elbert L Little, 1980

Grow Native Shrubs in Your Yard - F.M. Mooberry & Jane H. Scott 1980

The Herbalist - Joseph E. Meyer 1918 - David C. Meyer 1981

How Indians Use Wild Plants for Food, Medicine & Crafts - Frances Densmore 1974

ID It - Dendrology at Virginia Tech us ethis to ID trees and bushes

Indian Herbology of North America - Alma R. Hutchens, 1991

John Lawson Digital Exhibit - How Plants are Named.

Laurentian Environmetal Center Plant Key

Lichenland

Minnesota Power Company - The Right Tree Handbook

Native American Ethnobotany Database - A Database of Foods, Drugs, Dyes and Fibers of Native American Peoples, derived from plants

NativeTech: Native American Technology and Art Indigenous Plants & Native Uses in the Northeast.

Natural Dyes and Hone Dyeing Rita J. Adrosko 1971

Noble Foundation - Plant Image Gallery common name

North American Indian Medicine - University of Illinois at Chicago

Ohio Department of Natural Resources - Ohio Trees

Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources - Common Trees Of Pennsylvania

Peterson Field Guides Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants Steven Foster and James A. Duke 1990

Penn's Woods Backwoods curriculum

PLANTS National Database - PLANTS

Plants and People Links

Smithsonian Institution - National Zoo On site exhibit about plants

Smithsonian Institution - National Museum of the American Indian - On site exhibits about plants and Peoples

The Quaking Sound in Colonial America

green ivy rule

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posted 7/15/05 This page is updated periodically by Cindy O'Hora updated 3/20/2019