Lanny Kaufer's new book, "Medicinal Herbs of California" was just published by Falcon Guides and he joined the podcast to talk about this thorough look at the 70 plants in this field guide to common plants and their medicinal uses. Kaufer took over the popular Ojai Herb Walks back in 1976 and has been roaming the backcountry, introducing people to the wonders of the botanical world ever since.
This handy field guide includes not just information about the herbs themselves, but where to find them, their medicinal uses, how to harvest them sustainably, and various recipes and potions. Kaufer used five criteria in the book: is the plant common enough to sustain small-scale harvesting; is most of the plant's range within the state; is it already covered in many other books; is there evidence of Native American use; and is there sufficient scientific validation of those uses.
We talked about the how the perverse incentives of pharmaceutical companies because they can't patent an entire plant, the gradual switch from the 1820s to 1910's Flexner Report which systemized medical training and left medicinal herbs to native healers and folklore, and the gradual restoration of their proper place in the treatment of ailments. For example, Covid-19 researchers have discovered that yerba santa, a common California herb, can help block spike proteins from our respiratory systems. Yerba Santa has long been a mainstay of the indigenous medicine chest.
We also talked about Lanny's own introduction to plant medicine through a native American healer in the Jemez Pueblo in the 1960s, and some of his other mentors, including Juanita Centeno, Amanda McQuade Crawford and ethnobotanist Michael Moore. We did not talk about the science fiction novels of Octavia Butler, 1960s muscle cars or the freestylings of Gil Scott Heron.
https://www.amazon.com/Herbs-California-Lanny-Kaufer/dp/1493058029
https://www.herbwalks.com
