This is a a book with both good and bad aspects to it. It is a good book for basic descriptions of various native north american plants. Also, it tells what the plant was used for and often what tribe ascribed various properties to the plant. It's not a good book for investigating if the plant actually has medicinal properties. The author talks about "experimenting" with the various plants by force feeding them to dogs, etc. Try other books for critiques of medicinal properties in native north american plants.