We get asked all of the time “what are your favorite herb books?” – so we thought it’s about time we just compiled a list and posted it here for everyone to enjoy.
It can be incredibly helpful while on the plant path to know where to go to get valuable and reliable information about medicinal plants. While it’s highly recommended to enroll in courses to study with specific teachers, it’s also super important to build up a solid library of resources to have available while you are learning about specific plants, as well as the core principles and practices behind a holistic herbal practice.
This is meant to be a guide for how to build up your herbal library. I’ve divided it into specific categories, as different texts have their relative strengths and focuses, and in that way also particular weaknesses. This is certainly not meant to be exhaustive, as I’m sure there are many other great books out there, these are just the ones that I have personally used, read, and studied throughout the years and have found to be particularly helpful. Since some of these books cover a wide range of topics, some of them will be found in different categories.
The Intelligence of Nature and Plant Consciousness:
The Secret Teachings of Plants by Stephen Harrod Buhner
Sacred Plant Medicine by Stephen Harrod Buhner
The Lost Language of Plants by Stephen Harrod Buhner
Plant Intelligence and the Imaginal Realm by Stephen Harrod Buhner
Plant Spirit Healing by Pam Montgomery
The Language of Plants by Julia Graves
The Philosopher’s Plant by Michael Marder
Plant-Thinking: A Philosophy of Vegetal Life by Michael Marder
Plants as Persons: A Philosophical Botany by Matthew Hall
Brilliant Green by Stefano Mancuso and Alessandra Viola
The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben
Holistic Herbal Theory and Practice:
The Book of Herbal Wisdom by Matthew Wood
The Practice of Traditional Western Herbalism by Matthew Wood
The Earthwise Herbal Repertory by Matthew Wood
Vitalism by Matthew Wood
Planetary Herbology by Michael Tierra
The Yoga of Herbs by Vasant Lad and David Frawley
The Practicing Herbalist by Margi Flint
Medical Herbalism by David Hoffman
The Holistic Herbal by David Hoffman
Culpeper’s Medicine by Graeme Tobyn
Herbal Medicine Making:
The Herbal Medicine Makers Handbook by James Green
Herbal Medicine from the Heart of the Earth by Sharol Tilgner
Phytochemistry and Pharmacy for the Practitioner of Botanical Medicine by Eric Yarnell
Real Alchemy by Robert Bartlett
The Way of the Crucible by Robert Bartlett
Spagyrics by Manfred Junius
The Family Herbal by Rosemary Gladstar
Making Plant Medicine by Richo Cech
Plant Constituents and Pharmacognosy:
Herbal Vade Mecum by Gazmund Skenderi
Medical Herbalism by David Hoffman
Herbal Constituents by Lisa Ganora
Phytochemistry and Pharmacy for the Practitioner of Botanical Medicine by Eric Yarnell
Materia Medica:
The Book of Herbal Wisdom by Matthew Wood
The Earthwise Herbal Volumes 1 and 2 by Matthew Wood
Medical Herbalism by David Hoffman
The Holistic Herbal by David Hoffman
Planetary Herbology by Michael Tierra
The Way of Herbs by Michael Tierra
The Yoga of Herbs by Vasant Lad and David Frawley
American Materia Medica, Therapeutics and Pharmacology by Finley Ellingwood
Kings Dispensatory by John King & Harvey Wickes Felter
The Eclectic Materia Medica, Pharmacology and Therapeutics by Harvey Wickes Felter
Medicinal Plants of the Mountains West by Michael Moore
Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West by Michael Moore
Medicinal Plants of the Deserts West by Michael Moore
A Modern Herbal Volume 1 and 2 by Mod Grieve
Healing with the Herbs of Life by Leslie Tierra
Western Herbs According to Traditional Chinese Medicine by Thomas Avery Garran
Dispensing with Tradition by Anne McIntyre and Michelle Boudin
Herbal Formulation:
Herbal Medicine From the Heart of the Earth by Sharol Tilgner
Medical Herbalism by David Hoffman
Family Herbal by Rosemary Gladstar
The Authentic Herbal Healer by Holly Bellebuono
(*Note: there really aren’t too many books out there that dig into specific strategies for herbal formulation, most will just straight up give you formulas- this is an area serious lacking in herbal literature. A gap I hope to fill some day by writing a specific book on formulation!)
Wildcrafting and Growing Medicinal Herbs:
The Medicinal Herb Grower by Richo Cech
Growing At-Risk Medicinal Herbs by Richo Cech
The Organic Medicinal Herb Farmer by Jeff & Melanie Carpenter
Culture and Horticulture by Wolf-Dieter Storl
Pacific Northwest Medicinal Plants by Scott Kloos
The Boreal Herbal by Beverley Gray
Medicinal Plants of the Mountains West by Michael Moore
Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West by Michael Moore
Medicinal Plants of the Deserts West by Michael Moore
Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast by Jim Pojar and Andy MacKinnon
A Field Guide to Western Medicinal Plants by Christopher Hobbs and Steven Foster
Botany in a Day by Thomas J. Elpel
(*Note: There are way more field guides and wildcrafting books than we've listed here. These are the ones we've used the most for our bioregion in the Northwestern area of North America, but we encourage you to research more field guides and plant ID books that correspond to the bioregion you live in.)
Other Interesting Books About Plants:
Green Pharmacy by Barbara Griggs
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmer
The Pharmakopoeia Trilogy by Dale Pendell
Plants of the Gods by Richard Evan Schultes, Albert Hoffman and Christian Rätsch
Invasive Plant Medicine by Timothy Scott
The Wild Medicine Solution by Guido Masé
Food of the Gods by Terrence McKenna
Adaptogens by David Winston and Steven Maimes
Witchcraft Medicine by Claudia Muller-Ebeling, Christian Ratsch and Wolf-Dieter Storl
Alchemy, Spagyrics, Hermetics:
Real Alchemy by Robert Bartlett
The Way of the Crucible by Robert Bartlett
Spagyrics by Manfred Junius
The Path of Alchemy by Robert Stavish
Hermetic Mystery by M.A. Atwood
A Philosophical Path to Paracelsian Medicine by Jole Shackelford
The Golden Chain of Homer
The Philosophers Stone by Israel Regardie
The Emerald Tablet by Dennis William Hauck
The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus Volume 1 and 2 by Paracelsus
Alchemy Astrology by K.C. Wilkerson
The Alchemists Handbook by Frater Albertus
The Mystical Qabalah by Dion Fortune
A Garden of Pomegranates by Israel Regardie
Astrology/Medical Astrology:
Medical Astrology by Judith Hill
The Astrological Body Types by Judith Hill
Casenotes of a Medical Astrology by Margaret Millard
A Handbook of Medical Astrology by Jane Ridder Patrick
Astrology and Your Health by Jeanne Avery
The Inner Sky by Steven Forrest
The Changing Sky by Steven Forrest
Yesterday’s Sky by Steven Forrest
Encyclopedia of Medical Astrology by H.L. Cornell
Simplified Scientific Astrology by Max Heindel
Mythic Astrology by Arriel Guttman and Kenneth Johnson
This is just a little glimpse into some of our favorite books in our library (I'm sure we forgot some too), but there are SO many more wonderful herbal books and resources out there. What are some of your favorite herb books? See any here on this list that you also love? And if you have any favorites which weren't on this list, be sure to post them below here in the comments as well so we can add to this list!
