Lanny Kaufer signs the first copy of his new book, “Medicinal Herbs of California: A Field Guide to Common Healing Plants,” to his wife Rondia in front of a toyon shrub.
OJAI — Ojai author and native plant guide Lanny Kaufer will launch “Medicinal Herbs of California: A Field Guide to Common Healing Plants,” his new Falcon Guides book, at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 5 at the Ojai Valley Museum, 130 W. Ojai Ave., Ojai.
This free event will take place in the museum’s Chumash Garden, where Mr. Kaufer will talk about medicinal plants and autograph copies of his book. It will be available for purchase.
Reservations are not required.
Attendees will encounter several of the plants featured in his book, including mugwort, toyon, wild rose, wild cherry and elderberry.
Mr. Kaufer has been leading herb walks in Southern California since 1976.
“Medicinal Herbs of California” introduces the principles of herbal remedies and guides readers through finding, harvesting, cultivating and incorporating more than 70 locally abundant medicinal plants into daily life, according to a news release.
The book features color photos and descriptions of each medicinal herb, conservation status and recipes to put botanical healing power to work. There’s also information on indigenous uses of plants along with the current science that validates the traditional uses of these plants.
For more information, visit ojaivalleymuseum.org. In case of rain, the event will be rescheduled for Feb. 12.
For those not able to attend the event, the book is available at herbwalks.com, at Chaucer’s Books in Santa Barbara, Barnes & Noble in Ventura, The Book Loft in Solvang, and in Ojai at Bart’s Books, Farmer & The Cook and Rainbow Bridge, as well as other book stores.
— Dave Mason
