Free Botany Starter Set
An introductory class with Matthew Wood, MS and the late Jolie Elan, MS on why botany is worth an herbalist's time, plus eighteen reference cards for the terms that keep tripping you up.
Free.
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An Herbalist Knows the Plants
Why Botany is Worth an Herbalist's TimeThere you are... standing by a creek in dappled shade looking at something you're fairly sure is a medicinal plant. You ask yourself: How do I know for sure? Angelica and poison hemlock grow in that same wet ground, and they look enough alike to matter.
Botany is what turns "fairly sure" into certainty.
The ClassMatthew Wood, MS and the late Jolie Elan, MS introduce botany the way they wish somebody had started it for them: funny, unhurried, and full of the reasons botany matters. And that's all before diving into vocabulary.
This is the introductory class of Botany for Herbalists, and it's yours at no cost. Watch it or listen to the audio version while you're out walking.
The Eighteen Cards
Eighteen Cards for the Words That Trip You UpPistil. Stamen. Sepal. Botanical vocabulary is the wall most people hit in their first month of plant identification, and it is the easiest wall to get over.
Eighteen reference cards, one term to a card, written plainly. Download the set, print it or keep it on your phone, and take it out into the field with you.
"A background in botany is crucial to a well-trained herbalist. I can always tell the difference between a student with botanical training and one without."
Matthew Wood, MS
Matthew Wood, MS
A practicing herbalist for more than forty years, an internationally known teacher, and the author of over ten books. His MSc in herbal medicine is from the Scottish School of Herbal Medicine, accredited through the University of Wales. He lives in the Midwest.
The late Jolie Elan, MS
Founding director of Go Wild Institute and an ethnobotanist who blended science, myth and spirit for an audience of thousands. Jolie died in November 2020. Her teaching continues here, in the classes she built.
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Certain identification. Flower structure is the reliable way to go, and it can be learned.
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Safety. Every temperate ecosystem holds three or four seriously poisonous plants. Knowing them is not optional.
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Substitution. Plants in the same family often share properties, so knowing the family tells you which cousin might stand in for another.
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Reading the landscape. Soil, water, light, and neighboring plants all say something about what is growing there and why.
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Ethical harvest. An herbalist knows if a plant is common or has an at-risk status and how to look that up when you don't know.
The starter set is the front door of
Botany for Herbalists, the full course with Matthew Wood, MS and the late Jolie Elan, MS.
- It runs 24.5 hours.
- It covers plant naming and taxonomy, how to see a flower, the major medicinal plant families and what their members share, plant ecology, evolutionary botany, the science of plant intelligence, poisonous plants, and ethical harvest.
- It carries a certificate and 36 accredited hours.
- One payment gives you a year to watch, review and ask questions. $445. It's also in the Library membership for $65 / month.
There is no hurry. Work through the free set first and see whether the subject holds you.
