Christopher Nyerges - Foraging Arizona

Christopher Nyerges, cofounder of the School of Self-Reliance, has led wild-food walks for thousands of students since 1974. He has authored over a dozen books on wild foods, survival, and self-reliance and thousands of newspaper and magazine articles. He continues to teach where he lives in Los Angeles County, California. More information about his classes and seminars is available at www.schoolofself-reliance.com , on Facebook, or by writing to School of Self-Reliance, Box 41834, Eagle Rock, CA 90041.

Other Books by the Author

Foraging California, Second Edition

Foraging Idaho

Foraging Washington

Foraging Oregon

Foraging Wild Edible Plants of North America

Nuts and Berries of California

How to Survive Anywhere, Second Edition

The Self-Sufficient Home

Guide to Wild Foods and Useful Plants

Testing Your Outdoor Survival Skills

Extreme Simplicity

Enter the Forest

Guide to Making Fire without Matches

After I had already spent several years learning botany and ethnobotany in high school and college, through books and lectures, often very piecemeal and second hand, I had the very good fortune in approximately 1974 to meet Dr. Leonid Enari, the senior biologist at the Los Angeles County Arboretum, who was teaching his course Edible, Medicinal, and Poisonous Plants. His knowledge was astronomical. He eagerly worked with me on my first book, and he assisted me in compiling lists of safe and primarily edible plant families. His unique background in botany and chemistry made him ideally suited as a primary source of information. He acted as my teacher, mentor, and friend, and he always encouraged my study and teaching in this field. I felt a great loss when he passed away in 2006 at the age of eighty-nine. Thus, it is to Dr. Enari that I dedicate this book, Foraging Arizona.

At the same time I met Dr. Enari, I met Mr. Richard E. White, who founded the nonprofit WTI and whose organization sponsored the walks that I began leading in 1974. White was instrumental in showing me how to plan activities, how to teach, and how to think.

I also had many other mentors, teachers, and supporters along the way. These include (but are not limited to) Dr. Luis Wheeler (botanist), Richard Barmakian (nutritionist), Dorothy Poole (Gabrielino chaparral granny), John Watkins (a Mensan who knew everything), Mr. Muir (my botany teacher at John Muir High School), and Pascal Baudar and Mia Wasilevich, both wild-food cooking experts. These individuals all imparted valuable information to me, and they have all been my mentors to varying degrees; I also thank them for their influence. Euell Gibbons also had a strong impact on my early studies of wild food, mostly through his books; I met him only once.

Of course, there have been many others who taught me bits and pieces along the way, and I feel gratitude for everyone whose love of the multifaceted art of ethnobotany has touched me in some way. Some of these friends and strong supporters have included Peter Gail, Gary Gonzales, Dude McLean, Alan Halcon, Paul Campbell, Rick and Karen Adams, Barbara Kolander, Jim Robertson, and Timothy Snider. I also want to extend special thanks to my beloved Helen, for her support of this project, with both photos and ideas.

Yes, I took many of the photos in this book, but I couldnt do it all myself. Rick Adams deserves special thanks for the many trips we took together to get many of the photos. Other folks who contributed photos include Dr. James Adams, Algie Au, Barry Breckling, John Doyen, Trent Draper, Barbara Eisenstein, Kelly Haag, Barbara Kolander, Louis-M. Landry, Jeff Martin, Daniel McCarthy, Jean Pawek, Gina Richmond, Al Schneider, Bob Seebeck, Bob Shuman, Helen Sweany, Dr. Amadej Trnkoczy, Lily Jane Tsong, Mark Merriweather Vorderbruggen, Clint Wharton, Mary Winter, and Helen Wong.

Ferns are flowerless plants with feathery or leafy fronds. They reproduce by spores contained in sporangia that appear as brown dots on the underside of the fronds. They are found throughout tropical to temperate regions, characterized by true roots produced from a rhizome. There are thirteen families of ferns.

Among the ferns, the Bracken family contains about eleven genera and about 170 species.