"Plants on the Trail..." could have been so much better. I was not a fan of the way it was organized; I was hoping for more of a field guide book that was organized by region and not by type of plant (wildflower, edibles, trees, etc). Also, this book did not have a map of Lewis and Clark's journey, which should have absolutely been included at the very beginning of the book for context. There is a lot of text in this book and given the title of the book, it should have been more photo and illustration driven. I did, however, appreciate the chapter discussing the fate of the specimens from the journey and the list of the plants Lewis and Clark encountered with the date and the locations.

I'm undecided as to whether I would use or incorporate the book into a classroom library. I feel field guides would be more appropriate for conveying this type of information and would be a different style of book than students are used to.

This book broaches a topic that is unlikely to be addressed when discussing Lewis and Clark's sojourn across the Louisiana purchase. It may be less than exciting to some. Also, sorry William Clark fans, but this book is almost entirely focused on Lewis. Clark is rarely mentioned. Lewis was a dedicated naturalist of sorts. He was looking for new plants to serve as novel sources of food, wood, livestock feed, and medicinals. Sadly, many of his efforts were for naught. On numerous occasions, his collected plant specimen were destroyed or lost along the way. However, many specimens were saved within the Lewis and Clark herbarium. A list of specimens is presented in the back of the book. The plants are presented there relative to the date, year, and the general area of collection. The information for compiling the book came from journal entries of Lewis and others. Sometimes he wrote little and sometimes he wrote a lot. The 'To learn more' section at the end of the book gathers a host of books and other references for extending the audience's appreciation of the expedition.

A map in the beginning shows Lewis and Clark's path across the newly bought Louisiana Purchase. They were looking for a water root across North America. They started from Camp Illinois and stopped a the Pacific Ocean, navigating their way along the Missouri, Bitterroot, Clearwater, Snake and Columbia rivers. Along the way, they had make use of the unfamiliar plants they encountered. They would need food, and wood for building canoes and shelters for the Winter. Lewis described the changing plant habitat as they moved west. He also made note of the soil, shade, and moisture of the habitat that he collected the specimens in. At times, it was all grassland, or dense forests of nuts and berries and good wood. At other times, rocky and mountainous soils offered little purchase for plant life. Lewis described a virtual garden of Eden as he passed through the route. He probably embellished a bit. His appraisal of the landscape would likely not have been as successful without the help of Indian tribes they encountered along way. As Lewis traverses the route, he describes the uses of various plant species by the tribes. In his journals, he details not only the uses of various plants, but also their appearance, taste, and smell.

I did enjoy the book, but at times it dragged along. The prose didn't give a sense of discovery to the expedition. Something seemed lost in the translation. Yes, I do realize the focus was not on the expedition itself, but I didn't feel a sense of adventure from the monotonous tone. Normally, I might right off my dissatisfaction with some parts of the text to my inability to fully appreciate the subject matter. However, years ago I thought I wanted to be an ethnobotanist and was certainly interested in utilization of medicinal plants by native cultures. So, I do not feel that I am too far removed from the intended audience.