I recommend books by David Hoffmann, perhaps the foremost known British herbalist today (the link is to a page about him on Jim McDonald's website), especially his earlier books, for example, this one, not necessarily what has been published in the last decade or so, such as the formidable volume 'Medical Herbalism' (which I found to be lacking in depth).

For Ayurveda, perhaps the reference of choice for an independent/aspiring herbalist, should be 'The Yoga of Herbs' by David Frawley & Vasant Lad. Also, read up on Ayurveda, if you haven't yet, e.g. the highly accessible Robert Svoboda's 'Prakriti' or other books by the already mentioned Vasant Lad.

For medicine making another must-have reference is 'Making Plant Medicine' by Richo Cech.

Also, explore the resources on Henriette Kress's website, especially the classical texts from the Eclectic period.

There really are many other sources, from which you can draw both knowledge and inspiration, depending on the need of the moment.

I would also highely recommend the work of Paul Bergner, including but not limited to the links found here.

Okay so this isn't complete, and apparently my account is too young (or doesn't have enough karma?) to make a post to the subreddit :(

But here is the original post I constructed to submit:

Hello r/herbalism.

This book list was compiled by a good friend of mine who has been a practicing herbalist for a while now. I thought you might all enjoy this list; it's divided into different sections based on the particular area of study. My friend would also like me to inform you "If anyone should have difficulty locating these books, I've found a website, called bookfinder.com, to be most useful in acquiring these books for a fraction of the price from regular booksellers."

Beginner Herbalism, General

• Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner's Guide: 33 Healing Herbs to Know, Grow, and Use
  
  
• Making Plant Medicine by Richo Cech
  
  
• Modern Herbal Dispensatory: A Medicine Making Guide
  
  
• Rosemary Gladstar's Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health
  
  
• Herbal Antibiotics: Natural Alternatives for Treating Drug Resistant Bacteria by Stephen Buhner
  
  
• The Herbal Medicine-Maker's Handbook: A Home Manual by James Green
  
  
• Earthwise Herbal Vol I. and Earthwise Herbal Vol. II by Matthew Wood.
  
  
• The Practice of Traditional Western Herbalism: Basic Doctrine, Energetics, and Classification by Matthew Wood
  
  
  
• Rodale's 21st Century Herbal by Michael Balick
  
  
• The Desktop Guide to Herbal Medicine: The Ultimate Multidisciplinary Reference to the Amazing Realm of Healing Plants in a Quick-Study, One-Stop Guide by Brigitte Mars
  
  
  
• The Herbalist's Way: The Art and Practice of Healing with Plant Medicines by Nancy Phillips, Michael Phillips, and Rosemary Gladstar
  
  
  

  Advanced Herbalism
  

  
  

• Medical Herbalism: The Science Principles and Practices Of Herbal Medicine by David Hoffman
  
  
• Adaptogens: Herbs for Strength, Stamina, and Stress Relief by David Winston
  
  
• Edward E Shook's Elementary Treatise in Herbology and Advanced Treatise in Herbology - (In regards to the second, my friend has found a free PDF of the advanced treatise.)
  
  
• The School of Natural Healing: The Reference Volume on Natural Herbs for the Teacher, Student or Herbal Practitioner by John R. Christopher
  
  
• The Complete Herbal Tutor: A Structured Course to Achieve Professional Expertise by Anne McIntyre
  
  

  Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry (Part of the Advanced Herbalism List)
  

  
  
  

• The Constituents of Medicinal Plants: An Introduction to the Chemistry and Therapeutics of Herbal Medicine by A. Pengally
  
  
• Phytochemistry and Pharmacy for Practitioners of Botanical Medicine by Eric Yarnell
  
  
• Herbal Constituents: Foundations of Phytochemistry by Lisa Ganora
  
  
  

  Medicinal Mycology
  

  
  

• The Fungal Pharmacy: The Complete Guide to Medicinal Mushrooms and Lichens of North America by Robert Rogers
  
  
• Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms by Paul Stamets
  
  
  
  

Here are some links for the product in the above comment for different countries:

Amazon Smile Link: http://smile.amazon.com/Medical-Herbalism-Principles-Practices-Medicine/dp/0892817496/ref=sr_1_1


|Country|Link|
|:-----------|:------------|
|UK|amazon.co.uk|
|Spain|amazon.es|
|France|amazon.fr|
|Germany|amazon.de|
|Japan|amazon.co.jp|
|Canada|amazon.ca|
|Italy|amazon.it|
|China|amazon.cn|




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They will stay in the sprouting stage for quite some time. At least a momth or. During this time a lot of the plants energy is focused on the roots which is why it is such a hardy plant in its adult stage. for efficient germination ive heard of people using
gibberellic acid but this is not something I have tried and have not found much info on how that works. Some of my favorites include Medical Herbalism: The Science Principles and Practices Of Herbal Medicine which really explains in great detail the ins and outs of herbal medicine but not much of the cultivation side, Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses gave me new insight of plants ive never heard of that I currently grow a lot of now, This is the textbook I used and its very hardcore, and This is a the most informative for intermediate growers but can be hard to understand at times as it goes into biochemistry. Hope this helps

David Hoffman's book is a really great one:
http://www.amazon.com/Medical-Herbalism-Principles-Practices-Medicine/dp/0892817496/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397309320&sr=8-1&keywords=david+hoffman