A clear, concise guide to more than 130 edible and medicinal plants and funghi that grow wild throughout the west coast of British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest states.

The coastal Pacific Northwest of North America is home to a multitude of edible and medicinal plant species, marine plants, and edible mushrooms. This compact, full-colour forager’s guide offers clear photography, descriptions, safety tips and warnings, and traditional culinary and medicinal uses for every type of wild-growing flora species in the region, including:

• Bigleaf Maple—used to make a delicious west-coast maple syrup;
• Yellow Morel Mushroom—a favourite of foragers but not to be confused with the false morel, which is poisonous;
• Sea Asparagus—perfect in a salad or as an accompaniment to seafood; and
• Evening Primrose—an introduced species to the region, used to treat a variety of ailments.

Practical, user-friendly, and safe, Edible and Medicinal Flora of the West Coast is an indispensable guide for beginner and experienced foragers alike.

Collin Varner is a horticulturalist/arboriculturalist. Over his forty-year career, he worked at the University of British Columbia’s Botanical Garden, assumed responsibility for conserving 25,000 trees across campus, and taught courses in native plant studies. Now retired, Varner is an avid photographer, world traveller, and bestselling author of a series of nature guidebooks, including The Flora and Fauna of Coastal British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest, Edible and Medicinal Flora of the West Coast, Invasive Flora of the West Coast, and the award-winning The Flora and Fauna of Stanley Park.

Collin Varner's profile page