When I was 13 and a Junior Naturalist at the local nature center (job description: clean the aquarium, wander around) I got really good at leaf identification with the help of this trusty li’l book:
Do you remember these? I had a whole collection of these Golden Guides. Pocket-sized, colorful, and glossy — they were so cute! I think I also had The Golden Guide to Butterflies and Moths, The Golden Guide to Rocks and Minerals, and The Golden Guide to Pond Life. But I was definitely missing this volume:
I never knew this one existed, until I stumbled upon it on Amazon. From the image, it looks like a used library reference book, which is kind of ironic since it’s supposed to be a “field” guide after all. How will the young folk be able to accurately identify which fungi will wizz them into the stratosphere if they can’t check out the guidebook????
Anyway, even if you’re not into serving up cannabis cannoli or going out to graze on your opium poppies, this group of plants is pretty fascinating. I think Amy Stewart, one of the bloggers at Garden Rant, should write a book about hallucinogenic plants. What with her current project, The Drunken Botanist (subtitle: Celebrating Horticulture’s Contribution to Gettin’ Wasted) it sounds right up her alley! Whaddaya say, Amy?
Black Walnut Dispatch 
OMG, Mary. I remember the first book but the second has me ROTFLMAO! I wonder who decided in that publisher to issue that book. It’s probably a rarity! Thanks for a good laugh on a long day!
Wow, Mary, I hope you bought that book, because if you didn’t, I might. (I do remember those Golden Guides and might have had that tree one.)
Go for it, Carol. The only copy seemed to be a used one for $95 though. Seems to be a collector’s item!
I may be able to help. I believe I have two copies. (I have a lot of very strange friends, and they’re always sending me interesting books and things. For them, it’s even funnier to send me books like this, because they all know that I’m marginally more straight-edge than Penn Jillette.)
I wonder if you can earn a Hallucinogenic Plants Badge in the Boy/Girl Scouts.
Not to mention Amy’ Stewart’s recent novel The Last Bookstore In America. (Get it on Kindle) A light read, but guess how the last real bookstore stays in business in the near dystopian future when everyone buys online? Umm, yeah.
Hmmmm…..I’m sniffing out some irony in your comment, Laurrie….
What a funny topic for a Golden Guide and no wonder it was ‘Reference Only’! (I remember taking first aid in high school PE class using a Red Cross book with the childbirth section ripped out.)
Pretty funny, Cindy. At my high school we actually were required to watch a live birth (on TV) in biology class. Guess you didn’t go to school in Fairfax County, VA!
I went to school in Fairfax County (Robinson Secondary School) and I DEFINITELY remember that live birth video (last seen about 15 years ago. It sticks with you). Yuck. Everyone came out of that class traumatized, I think. Not what you would choose to see right before lunch.
Robinson! When did you graduate? I graduated from Robinson in 1989, and I taught there from 1999-2006!
I graduated in 1999, so sounds like we just missed each other. I remember my two favorite teachers: Mrs. Johnson, and Mrs. Shaw (sorry, can’t remember their first names). Mrs. Johnson had brightly colored hair of the red variety and taught AP English. Mrs. Shaw taught Biology and AP Biology, and it was in her class that I saw the infamous live birth video. Were they still there when you taught? I came back for a visit a couple years after I graduated and almost all the teachers I remembered had left, including those two.
Hmmmm, those names don’t ring a bell. Yup, just missed each other! Still, kinda cool that I bumped into an old Ram right here on my blog. Small world!
That’s twisted…I still have my golden guides on weather and astronomy. Look what I missed out by starting out as an earth science guy, instead of a life science guy!! I bet that particular golden guide nets some $$ on Amazon compared to others.
It does, David. That used copy was going for $95.
I. Need. That. Book. It looks like it would actually be really good for a laugh. But in seriousness, the Golden Guide to Trees was possibly my favorite book as a child.
Same here, Tom. I think I still have it over at my parents’ house. The hallucinogenic plants one does look amusing….looks like you can only get it used now for quite a steep price!
So, just out of interest, what was the publishing date on the hallucinogenic one? Maybe they sold a lot of copies to hippies interested in growing their own…
Not sure about the publishing date, but the sticker on the book in the photo said 1977….sounds just about right ;o)
I remember when this book came in to the used book store I used to work at. I seem to remember that we priced it for a pretty penny, and it was still snapped up in a hurry. I wonder if the person who bought it was planning on using it as a field guide or a conversation piece? Or maybe they had fond memories of their orignal copy from the 70s.
Funny that you recall the book coming into the used book store! I know I’d wanna buy it…strictly as a conversation piece, of course! ;o)