26 - Mayan Ethnobotany Guatemala Honduras El Salvador Mexico Belize Utilitarian and Sacred Plants Flowers Annual Report J 2014

Maya
Ethnobotany
Complete Inventory
Fruits, nuts, root crops, grains, construction materials,
utilitarian uses, sacred plants, sacred flowers
Guatemala, Mexico, Belize, Honduras

Thirteenth edition, May 2014 Nicholas M. Hellmuth
Maya Ethnobotany 1 Complete Inventory of plants

Introduction
This opus is a progress report on over thirty years of studying plants and agriculture of the present-day But as a work-in-progress I am constantly adding obscure edible or utilitarian plants to my list. But to
Maya with the goal of understanding plant usage by the Classic Maya. As a progress report it still has keep the list within reason, I focus exclusively on the plants related to Maya culture: southern Mexico,
a long way to go before being finished. But even in its unfinished state, this report provides abundant Belize, Guatemala, and portions of Honduras and El Salvador.
listings of plants in a useful thematic arrangement. The only other publication that I am familiar with
which lists even close to most of the plants utilized by the Maya is in an article by Cyrus Lundell (1938). This present version by FLAAR Reports has only a few illustrations ironically in part because the
FLAAR Photo Archive has so many thousands of photos of ethnobotany and ethnozoology that it is
• Obviously books on Mayan agriculture should have informative lists of all Maya agricultural crops, time-consuming and expensive for a small research institute to go into this large an archive and pull
but these do not tend to include plants used for house construction. out photos of each species. In a single 8-day period in early June 2011 we took over 42 GB of photo-
graphs (and these are compressed files; the actual total once in TIF format would be more than 80 GB).
• There are monumental monographs, such as all the trees of Guatemala (Parker 2008) but they are During November and December 2012 we took probably 23 Gigabytes of additional photographs.
botanical works, not ethnobotanical, and there is no cross-reference by kind of use. You have to go Presently (in early 2014) we have about 78,000 high-resolution photographs. We hope to find a univer-
through over one thousand pages and several thousand tree species to find what you are looking for. sity or botanical garden which would like to acquire this unequalled research so that there is funding to
finish finding and photographing the plants which are still missing.
• There are even important monographs on Maya ethnobotany, but they are usually limited to one
country, or one theme, often medicinal plants.
Yes, obviously of course the archive should be coded and cataloged: but it has cost thousands of
dollars to do the field work to bring in the photographs. It would cost even more to catalog them.
• There are even nice monographs on edible plants of Central America (Chízmar 2009), but these do
not include every local edible plant, and their focus is not utilitarian plants at all, nor sacred plants.
So we have a simple decision: spend money on field work: resulting in a larger and more informative
La flora silvestre de Guatemala, by Luis Villar Anleu (2008), is another helpful publication, but our
archive; or spend money on cataloging what we have photographed in past years (result is no money
goal was to list every category: wild and domesticated, edible and utilitarian, and sacred (even if
for any more field work). Sorry, but I prefer field work, since a capable student or scholar can catalog
not eaten or used for construction).
the archive in the future. But travel in Latin America gets progressively more dangerous. In other words,
There are plenty of other lists of all Maya whatever else, but for one single resource, which lists all in the next decade not many people will wish to venture into rural areas to do the needed photography.
plants: food, construction, sacred flowers, etc; such a list is not widely available (or if available is kept Plus many of the species will have been bulldozed by commercial companies or burnt by milpa agri-
well hidden). The most inspirational list I have found is over seventy years ago, namely that already culture or for cattle pastures. So the time to do photography of plants out in the field is now, not later.
mentioned, of Cyrus Lundell. It has at most several hundred plants; I have not counted all the plants I
have found, but I estimate the quantity in this report by FLAAR is over 400 plants. The list you see below is the work of many years, including my research in the Archivo General de In-
dias (Sevilla) in 1971, and my ethnohistory work in the Archivo General de Central America (Guatemala
I wrote this entire opus without access to Brücher’s 1989. Useful Plants of Neotropical Origin and City) before then (Hellmuth 1971; 1977). In other words my current publications on Maya ethnobotany
Their Wild Relatives. I found another list after I had finished my work: that of Legner, “American Plants are based on research initiated 40 years ago.
of Economic Importance” where he cites Brücher and others. Another list that I found after I finished
mine was a “Crop List of Latin America.” I did not cross-check my list with that of Plantas Comestibles The thematic categories that I have selected are based on common sense and are categories that I
CentroAmerica (Chízmar 2009) until I had finished my first and second editions. I found the list plants have found easy to understand as a general practitioner (I rather obviously do not have a university
of the Maya Mountain Research Farm only after I had finished the present second edition. FLAAR is background in biology or botany). My interest in botany comes from living 12 months in Tikal at age
open to cooperation with these other entities and their lists. Just as we credit their work, we appreciate 19 (1965); and five seasons at Yaxha, Peten at age 35+ (1970-1975), plus twenty years of field trips
when other lists credit our several decades of work that has produced this now umteenth edition through Campeche, Chiapas, Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, Belize, and Honduras (1970’s-1990’s).
update and improvement on our first edition of about three years ago (which was in turn the work of
several decades). I am entirely self-taught in botany, and I appreciate the help of the more experienced Guatemalan biolo-
gists who have worked for FLAAR: Eduardo Sacayon for many years; Mirtha Cano for about two years;
After I finished the first two editions I continued to do more research and kept finding more compilations then Daniela da’Costa (Universidad del Valle) and presently Ilena Garcia. It is also helpful to have the
of plants. A good example would be the article by Rico-Gray et al. 1991 for Yucatan.. Even though it publications of the many capable Guatemalan botanists at the universities and government institutes.
was only “forest species” it lists about 250 plants. In almost every such list I find one or two plants that The publications of Ana Lucrecia MacVean, Elfriede Pöll, and Armando Caceres are good examples.
were not in my original list. Nonetheless, even my first edition had more useful and edible plants than
It would be helpful to compare my themes with how the Maya themselves organize their plant world.
most of these articles and monographs. But even after I had found several hundred edible or otherwise
This is a job of a linguist and ethnographer. I would expect the Maya to organize things very differently.
utilitarian plants, I still find one or two when I read the work of an experienced specialist. For example,
But in order to do all my research, and to present the findings to an audience worldwide in a manner we
I found at least three plants in the University of Texas course material of Brian Stross that I had note
can understand, it is more effective to keep the present listings in basic thematic groups. A linguist can
seen listed elsewhere. During two years ago (2012) I found most of these plants buried in technical
in the future do a thesis on how a Mayan language group would classify their plant universe.
articles or monographs; many other species I found in-person in house-side gardens and milpas.
Maya Ethnobotany 2 Complete Inventory of plants Maya Ethnobotany 3 Complete Inventory of plants
Thesis, dissertation research planning
One of many reasons I work on these Maya ethnobotanical listings is to assist and encourage students
to do thesis and dissertation work on the plants of the Maya area (before these plants are burned out
or bulldozed to extinction). But if you do intend to do a thesis, consider limiting yourself to one topic:
fruits and nuts, or basketry, rope, and thread materials, or perhaps construction materials. Topics such
as vegetables can fill an entire thesis. Sacred flowers would encompass botany, ethnobotany, and ico-
nography, etc. My mania to list “everything” is a constant stumbling block to getting things finished.
There are thousands of plants and to cover even all the utilitarian plants in a single thesis is not re-
alistic. I am crazy for even attempting to list them all. But again, the list that follows are only notes; a
progress report. But even in rough form, even unfinished, this PDF represents endless hours at my
desk, and months out in the Peten rain forests and savannas, as well as field trips throughout other
areas of Guatemala, Belize, Mexico, and Honduras. I first came to Mexico when I was 16; and was
first in Guatemala when I was 17 years old. I am now precisely half a century in Mesoamerica and still
working with plants and animals. I intend to continue ethnobotanial research for several more decades!
I apologize in advance to botanists that I do not list all the botanist’s names at the end of a species name.
I want to get this work finished in a realistic time framework, and whether I list Lundell or Linnaeus or
Standley or Morelet will not make or break the benefit of my thematic concept of listing. Standley’s schol-
arly tradition of listing all antiquated botanical names is great, but that is not my goal. I seek to provide
practical assistance to students, scholars, and interested lay people in today’s world of 2014. But I do
follow botanical tradition in capitalization and italics. And I do my best to keep track of which books I have
used or referenced by others in the bibliography.
If you know of a plant in any category which I should include, please let me know at ReaderService@
FLAAR.org.
leaf-cutting ant by Nicholas Hellmuth
This report was an Annual Report for 2010-2011 • Over-exposed so the whites are burned out;
and then for 2012 • darks too dark to see details;
This report was originally a form of “Annual Report” for 2010. Actually you could consider it an annual • images out of focus;
report for the decade from 2000 through 2010. Normally we are so full-time occupied doing research • too much clutter distracting you from the flower or fruit.
that we don’t stop research to write lists of what we have done previously. We are eager to do more
research rather than cogitate on what we already did. But every once in a while we do need to stop
long enough to get out reports on what we have amassed so far. And on the Internet today, and even in recent publications on plants, gardening, and botany, too many
of the photographs are not of professional quality.
Three years ago Mirtha Cano was working with FLAAR and she put together our initial lists in a nice
tabulated layout. This was issued as a FLAAR Report with basic illustrations. Compared with our list Ours are not always perfect, but we definitely get them better-than-average, and in many cases
today, and in thematic groupings, you can see how much labor and library time and hours (and weeks the photos we will be providing are a significant asset to scholarly research. Plus the photographs
and months) on the Internet has been dedicated and invested in this long range project even since in the FLAAR Photo Archive are often of higher resolution than available elsewhere. The Canon
2008. As a note, we still cooperated with Mirtha Cano though she now worked for the Parque Na- EOS-1Ds Mark III is 21 megapixels as is our Hasselblad with a Phase One P25+ digital back.
cional Tikal, appropriately as a biologist, up through the end of 2013 and first month of 2014. At that
point she moved to a new area of Guatemala. As soon as donations or funding allow it, we hope to improve our photographic equipment even more,
up to 60 megapixels minimum. The 80 megapixel option is a price we can’t even dream of (unless a
I hope the thematic groupings can assist scholars who are interested in one specific theme. financial angel would assist). And yes, these cameras do exist: Phase One even invited me to the pre-
launch of the 80 megapixel IQ180 model in Dubai earlier in 2011 (I was asked to be the head of the
Dubai committee for printing and graphic design excellence so was flown to the United Arab Emirates
This report can be considered a Chapter Outline by the committee). By coincidence the Phase One camera had its pre-launch event the same days in
Dubai. However we do not have the $40K that this better camera would cost, so we continue to use the
for further research several-year-old P25+ It wore out by the end of 2012.
Rather obviously our long-range goal is to have a “chapter” on each plant or flower. We already have
“chapters” on some of the species, such as cacao, ceiba, etc. These are PDFs on our www.maya- This list is a work-in-progress
archaeology.org web site. But the long range first step is to list all the plants.
It is ironic that after working for so many years, just a few weeks ago I was in Antigua Guatemala, in the
Second step is to receive feedback from botanists, ethnographers, iconographers, epigraphers, and local market. I found two food plants in this market that I had not noticed elsewhere previously. Probably
archaeologists on what species we should add (or comments from botanists on what species we should they are listed in crop lists and probably listed by Lundell as well, but I had not noticed them. Yet the
place in a different theme group). Guatemala assistants who were working with me, especially Sofia Monzon, knew the Spanish names
and said they eat these plants regularly.
Third step is to create a digital photographic reference archive of top quality photographs. We have
been testing camera equipment the entire decade from 2000-2010 and recently in 2011 we received And every time I read a book or visit a web site I find another plant or flower that needs to be studied. For
another $5000 in Canon camera equipment from a benefactor, Parrot Digigraphic (close-up lenses, example, the informative book by MacVean on useful plants of Peten is long ago sold out, so I do not
close-up accessories, flash, and tilt-shift lens for wide-angle). Parrot Digigraphic earlier provided a have any copy in my library. I did all my years of listing plants without referencing her three monographs
complete Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III system to FLAAR. We thank Greg Lamb, Global Imaging, for pro- (Peten plus two on the Highlands). I wanted to learn to find the plants by myself. But now that my list
viding a Phase One P25+ digital back (for our Hasselblad). Unfortunately the Phase One sensor wore is comprehensive, I and research assistants are going to all “listing sources” and comparing their lists
out by late 2012 and the Canon camera was stolen in early 2014: we are now working a raising funds with our list. Any utilitarian plant that I missed we cite with the author’s name of the monograph where
to replace both with newer and better equipment. we found the plant that we are adding. So I expect that other scholars and hopefully botanists and
ethnographers will let me know what other edible or useful or sacred plants that I have not yet noticed.
The urgent need for better photographs to aid scholarly research Now, several months after our third edition, I have found so many more edible or useful plants that we
are issuing a fourth edition. Season by season we have found more plants during field trips; and long
There are several botanical photo archives with really nice photographs. The photographs in the Plant hours of research with monographs and peer-reviewed journal articles. So now, as we enter 2014, this
Guides of The Field Museum (Chicago) web site would be a good example. Photographs on the web is our umteenth edition.
sites of Jim Conrad are also of recommended quality. But too many photographs in older books are not
professional quality or have other inadequacies: For medicinal plants, however, there are so many hundreds that we do not yet realistically have funding
to handle them. Our primarily goal is to list edible, utilitarian and sacred plants.
This list is the thirteenth edition
The eventual umteenth edition will include tabulations by scientific species name, alphabetical tabu-
Be aware that some “edible plants” are toxic
lation by English name, and alphabetical tabulation by Spanish name. In the meantime we are still The list of “edible plants” is not a suggestion to actually eat these plants. Some are toxic unless
working at getting “all” the useful plants included. Where we are missing many would be in wood used cooked or heated: cashew nuts are a good example (my favorite nut). Others have one part of the
for house construction, since local people use about everything. plant that is toxic, but another part that can be eaten. A few plants are seriously toxic in all aspects.
But I also find edible plants every month. Every time we add ten more things we have read and every For the list of medicinal plants, these are intended to be an inventory of plants but not a medical trea-
time we add five more plants, we reissue this as a new edition. tise. Do not attempt to use these plants to cure yourself.
Plus we are preparing to add several new appendices, with special plant lists for specific categories. Citations for each plant are in the plant-by-plant descriptions, which are separate PDFs in prepara-
This week in November we are adding a list of plants for colorants from the PDF, on-line, Capacita- tion.
cion de Tintes Naturales, Solola, published in association with jica, FGT, and AGUABEJA. This was
the eighth edition.
So now we are issuing this thirteenth edition. It has more entries in the bibliography, a few new theme
sections (including a section on blood-sap trees), and various corrections, especially in the list of fla-
vorings for cacao, which is a section I am focused on finding each species, one by one.
During December 2011 I worked to create the tenth edition, our Christmas present to Maya-
nists and botanists. This tenth edition has the results of our visit to the Lake Atitlan area where
the local Maya women’s associations and cooperatives have revived the use of organic colo-
rants primarily from local plants. In one of these facilities we were able to buy the book of Man-
uel Méndez, which improves our list of colorants. Plus now we have alphabetized the help-
ful list from Arellano Rodríguez et al. 2003 and compare their contributions with those of
Hideo Kojima and the comprehensive book on ancient Maya color by Houston et al (2009).
The ninth edition included an improved bibliography on medicinal plants and improvements in listing
of several species.
The fifth and sixth editions included additional plants and dozens of additional monographs in the
bibliography. The seventh edition had the colorants added as Appendix C.
The full bibliography is still out into the future, as the world financial crunch puts some realistic limits
on the number of staff we can assign to this project. We have no outside grants, donations, or funding
specifically for this project; funding could really be a help. Nonetheless, the bibliography even at its
present stage is pretty good.
Some e-mail systems at large corporations will not accept an attachment over 5 megabytes, so we
are moving the bibliography to become a separate PDF of its own.
Cashew, by Nicholas Hellmuth.
Note for twelfth edition
Note for this thirteenth edition
We now have arranged several theme plant groups alphabetically by species. Most botanical treatises arrange
plants by family, and A to Z by genus within a family. I prefer to make it easier for scholars in all disciplines to
Already by the third edition (two years ago) this list of plants was longer than that of Lundell “Plants probably recognize the plants so I arrange the A to Z order by individual plant (genus and then by species within a genus).
used by the Maya…”. Today in 2013 the list has continued to grow as I find more plants on field trips, and
during botanical research in libraries. The list is now so long that it will need to eventually be reorganized
by alphabetical order and an index will be needed. Presently I have been adding so many plants that the
original concept is in need of reoganization. I may opt to have a version with tabulations by use-theme.
In the meatime, however, I wanted to get this year 2013 version out so that students could have this
available for the current semester.
Any professor who wishes to use FLAAR Reports in their curriculum are allowed to have their students
download the reports at no cost, either from www.maya-archaeology.org or www.maya-ethnobotany.org.
Grains
Maize, Zea mays, corn
Teosinte, Zea luxurians,
Grain amaranth, Amaranthus cruentus, is primarily known for non-Maya Mexico but in fact is used by
Highland Maya also.
Vegetables
We discuss the botanical distinctions between what is a vegetable and what is a fruit in the upcoming
detailed “chapters” on each theme.
Beans of many different varieties and colors.
Chaya, roctish (K’ekchi), Cnidoscolus aconitifolius, toxic unless cooked. Booth (1992) gives
Cnidoscolus chayamansa Mill., citing Standley and Steyermark 1949.
Tree tomato Cyphomandra betacea (Stross, course outline), tamarillo. However this plant is not (yet)
documented as pre-Columbian in Mesoamerica, so should not be in the list of preHispanic Maya
foods until it is better documented. Tree tomoto is common at altitudes in Guatemala higher than that
Edible plants
of Lake Atitlan (Lake Atitilan itself is not high enough).
Tomato, Lycopersicum lycopersicum
Chayote, dark green güisquil, Sechium edule; Sechium compositum
Chile peppers, sweet
Chile peppers, picante
Perulero, smaller, smoother surface, another kind of güisquil. Also name of a town in Guatemala.
Squash of dozens of species

• Ayote
• Calabaza
• Calabazita
• Chilacayote, Cucurbita ficifolia
• calabaza mélon (Mexico), melo-cotón (Guatemala), Sicana odorifera. However this is from
South America and not yet convincingly documented to be prehispanic in the Maya area (but it
is cultivated as food and as an ornamental today).
Maize, corn Beans Calabaza

Sometimes it is only the seed of a squash that is eaten (pepitoria) other times the flesh; other species
both.
Maracuya Chino (the name in Panama, Chízmar 2009:153-154), Cionosicys macranthus. Some
botanical web sites list this for only lower Central America; others say “Mexico south to…” Is not a
passion flower but a member of the Cucurbitaceae plant family.
Bitter melon, condiamor, Momordica charantia (Chízmar 2009:155-157). Read warnings in botanical
web sites before eating this fruit. Edible leaves
Phytolacca rivinoides Kunth & Bouche (Standley and Steyermark 1946).
Rytidostylis carthagenensis (Chízmar 2009:158-160). Bizarre super-fine “hairy” type vegetable with
remarkable flower (nothing like any wiskil).
Tinantia erecta Jacq. K’ekchi, tziton, cana de cristo, pleado (Booth 1992:295).
Tomato, Lycopersicum lycopersicum
Tomatillo, tomate verde, mitomatl, Physalis ixocarpa
Tree tomato Cyphomandra betacea (Stross, course outline), tamarillo.

However this plant is not (yet) documented as pre-Columbian in Mesoamerica, so should not be in
the list of preHispanic Maya foods until it is better documented. Tree tomoto is common at altitudes in
Guatemala higher than that of Lake Atitlan (Lake Atitilan itself is not high enough).
Tomatillo Tomato Tomatillo
Often it is easier to have a plant included in several theme-sections if different parts of the plant have
different uses. Edible leaves is a category in a brief discussion of ethnobotany by Ana Lucrecia de
MacVean and Elfriede Pöll (Chapter 8, Table 2). Many leaves are primarily for seasoning, rather than
eating per se.
Amaranthus cruentus and/or Amaranthus hypochondriacus, Bledo, amaranth greens Booth (1992:290)
uses Amaranthus caudatus L. based on Figueroa 1983 and Perez and Salan 1986).
Capsicum frutescens, Chile pepper, (Elevitch 1998:3)
Cestrum racemosum (Chízmar 2009:302-303).
Chilacayote, guicoy, cucurbita ficifolia B. (Booth 1992:292 based on Perez and Salan 1986).
Chiranthodendron pentadactylon, Canak, arbol de las manitas,
Clerodendrum ligustrinum (Jacq.); moste, ikimte’, itsinte’ (Barrera 1976), leaves to flavor fish (Gibson
in Standley, Williams and Gibson 1973: 193). Family Lamiaceae
Cnidosculus aconitifolius, Chaya.
Crotalaria longirostrata, Chipilin.
Cucurbita moschata, Calabash,
Dahlia imperialis, Roezl. Dablia, Called txoloj by K’ekchi (Booth 1992 based on Nash and Williams
1976). Family Verbenaceae.
Ipomoea batatasm Sweet potato (Elevitch 1998:3)
Lippia graveolens HBK., leaves as a flavoring (Gibson in Standley, Williams and Gibson 1973: 211).
Lycianthes synanthera B., Chomtee (K ‘ekchi), chilete dulce (Chiapas), (Cotto 1999:2-3). Family
Solanaceae. Canak arbol de las manitas
Lycianthes synanthera B., Bitter, chomtee (Booth 1992 based on Gentry and Standley 1974).
Manihot escuelenta, Manioc, (Elevitch 1998:3)
Myriocarpa longipes Liebm. (Booth 1992 based on Standley and Steyermark 1952).
Pimenta dioica, Allspice, pimenta gorda, leaves are used for tea.
Sechium edule, Chayote, (root, flowers, AND leaves are edible).
Sinclairia sublobata (Chízmar 2009:113-116).
Solanum americanum Mill., Macuy.
Crotalaria longirostrata, Chipilin pimenta gorda

Dahlia imperialis Guicoy
The plants below are primarily seeds of trees, or vines (Pepitorio). Seeds of grains are already listed
previously, in a separate category, namely grains.
Amapola blanca, Bernoullia flammea, Uacut, chunte’, Cante, Bombacaceae (Parker 2008:100-101).
Guanacaste, Enterolobium cyclocarpum (Niembro Rocas 2002, MacVean 2003:84-85)
Cualote, Guazuma ulmifolia Lam. (MacVean 2003:128-129).
Cerasee, Sorosi vine, Momordica charantia, pods orange or yellow; Izabal.
Jicara, morro (two different plants, but not many people use only one name) Crescentia alata
Pepitorio, Pumpkin seeds, squash seeds, various species are grown more for their seeds than for
the vegetable portion.
Pseudobombax ellipticum, shaving brush tree (flower is shaped like a shaving brush). I doubt many
people eat the seeds, and I would not wish to try (considering that the tree is also known as amapo-
la).
Sterculia apetala, castaña, ground seeds to make a drink (Parker 2008:890).
Other Edible seeds Provision Tree, Zapaton, zapote bobo, Pachira aquatica The flower of this tree is similar to flowers
favored in scenes on Maya pottery (Zidar 2009). This tree produces a supposedly edible nut, but I
doubt many people eat it today, a shame, as this tree is fast growing and is quite common in its tropi-
cal habitat.
We will be adding more seeds from trees of the Bombacaceae family as we complete our research on
this important plant family.
Jicara Bernoullia flammea, Mapola flower
Edible Seed pulp
I added this category after learning how many species and relatives there are of Inga that are edible.
But it is the pulp around the seed that you eat: not the seed itself. Our categories are deliberately
informal, because obviously with some fruits you eat everything; with others you eat only the pulp, with
others you eat only the seeds.
Bri Bri, Inga edulis, (when it is mainly the seed pulp that is eaten, we have separate section on seeds).
Xelel, Inga thibaudiana, (Chízmar 2009:191-192)
Inga vera, (Chízmar 2009:193-194)
Paterna, Inga paterna, seed pods; common in Guatemala
Plus there are other fruits whose pulp (and in some cases also seeds) are edible.
Cacao, Theobroma cacao; seed pulp is also eaten (has no chocolate taste whatsoever, but is delicious).
However does not survive shipping, so you can taste it only if you pick the fruit from the tree in the
orchard and eat it on the spot. Yummy. I have not tried pulp of pataxte because these pods are so high
in the tree you can’t harvest them yourself.
Theobroma angustifolium, monkey cacao.
Vallesia glabra Cav. (Martin et al. 1987:82).

Cacao seeds
Berries
This list will depend on how you define what is a “berry.”
Acai berry, acai palm tree, Euterpe oleracea (don’t blame me; it’s called a berry, but you can also
consider it as a nut).
White Maya Tree, Miconia argentea
Allspice berry, Pimenta racemosa, I list this also under seasoning.
Vaccinium confertum, Tlo’Chaj a berry from the Tajumulco region.
Vaccinium consanguineum (Chízmar 2009:174-175).
White Maya Tree, Miconia argentea
There are hundreds of secondary web sites that quote each other, thus spreading slight misinformation.
These sites all say that the Maya diet included “fruits and berries”; or whatever. Yes, dozens of fruits:
but actually not many berries are pre-Columbian in the core lowland Maya area. I have never heard of
berries being a common food of the Maya, past or present.
Paterna Cacao seeds Cacao seeds

Annona cherimola, Anona, cherimoya,
Annona glabra, Anonillo,
Annona diversifolia, Anona Blanca, papauce, Ilama,
Annona muricata, Guanábana, custard apple, soursop,
Annona primigenia, Anonillo
Annona purpurea, Soncoya, matacuy, Covered with conical spines.
Annona reticulata, Custard apple,
Annona scleroderma Saff., Poshte (Martin et al. 1987:81).
Annona squamosa, Sugar apple,
Each area of Mesoamerica shares some species of Anonna but several areas have another species
that is not as common elsewhere. We will track them all down sooner or later.
As is so typical of Spanish nomenclature, there are fruits that are not botanically related yet which are
Fruits
stuck with names that sound like anona.
Cymbopetalum penduliflorum, orejuela, anona de Montaña
(primarily trees, lots of annona first) Cymbopetalum mayanumm Tulche
Malmea depressa, anona (Parker 2008:49-50; MacVean 2003:24-25).
Sugar apple fruit flower, Annona
Sugar apple Annona squamosa flower Annona muricata Annona purpurea
Couepia polyandra (Knuth) Olozapo, Zapotillo
Other Fruits (primarily fruits from trees) (Chízmar 2009:144-145; E. N. Anderson for Yucatan).
Crataegus Mexicana Moc. & Sesse ex DC., Family Rosaceae,

I would be impressed to find a list of fruits potentially used by the Maya which is even 50% of the fruits
north of Maya area (Lascurain 2010:53)
listed below. Yet every month I find another edible fruit. A good example is the book, Perennial Edible Fruits
of the Tropics: An Inventory, USDA, 1987, available at no cost on-line http://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/
Tamarind, Dialium guianense (Chízmar 2009:179-181).
CAT87886130/PDF.
Sauco, Ehretia tinifolia L., family Boraginaceae (Lascurain 2010:49).
In mid-April 2014 I found an excellent book on the edible fruits of Veracruz, Mexico (Lascurain 2010).
The plant better k known as Sauco is Sambucus mexicana.
Unfortunately it does not tell the reader which of the plants are native and which have been introduced
from Asia, Africa or South America.
Lemon drop mangosteen, Garcinia intermedia; edible fruit, handsome
flowers; wood used for construction and utilitarian uses.
As time allows trying to sort out which of these edible fruits is pre-Columbian in the Maya area of
www.montosogardens.com/garcinia_intermedia.htm
Mesoamerica we will be expanding our already surprisingly long list of Maya fruits later during 2014.
Jagua, Genipa Americana (Chízmar 2009: 271-275).
Lagartillo, Alibertia edulis. Flower potentially sacred (my estimate)
Guazuma ulmifolia, Pixoy (Chízmar 2009:307-311, Lundell;
Ardisia compressa (Lascurain 2010).
Parker 2008:888-889). Guarumo Flower
Ardisia revolute, (Chízmar 2009:247-248).
Aceituno, wild pigeon plum Hirtella racemosa, H. americana, H. triandra
Jilotillo, Salsoco, Raisoco, Asplundia utilis (Chízmar 2009:167-168).
Anay, Hufelandia anay (Popenoe)
Arbol de manzana, Bellucia grossularioides, (Chízmar 2009:235-236)
Guapinol or huapinol, Hymenaea courbaril; also used as a flavoring.
Breadnut, ramon, Brosimum alicastrum
Bri Bri, Inga edulis, (when it is mainly the seed that is eaten, we have separate section on seeds).
nance, craboo, Byrsonima crassifolia, favorite food of mythical deity 7 Macaw
Güiligüiste, Huilihuiste, Karwinskia calderonii (Chízmar 2009:263-265).
Papaya, Carica cauliflora Jacq. (Parker 2008:145), but this species has probably been moved to another
Jacaratia digitata, from Ecuador, has spines the precise same size, shape, layout as both species of Ceiba in
genus since then. Parker gives no local names. She takes her information from Bolivia and Nicaragua,
Guatemala. Jacaratia spinosa also has spines just like a Ceiba of Mesoamerica. So far I have no evidence that
which for a book titled “Trees of GUATEMALA” is not adequate.
either of these twoJacaratia species is native to Mesoamerica in pre-Columbian times.
Estococa, Carludovica palmate (Chízmar 2009:169-171).
Guarumo, trumpet tree, Cecropia peltata
Celtis iguanaea (Jacq.) Sarg. Family Ulmaceae, uña de gato.
Iicaco, Chrysobalanus icaco
Sea grape, Coccoloba uvifera
Cordia dentate Poir, Boraginaceae (Lascurain 2010:39)

Brosimum alicastrum, Ramon flower
Ciricote, Cordia dodecandra
Baboon Cap, Couepia dodecandra
manzanilla, tropical hawthorn, Crataegus pubescens var. stipulata (Popenoe 1921)
Corallillo, Hamelia patens (MacVean 2003:118-119).

Anona Annona squamosa Guanábana
Papaya orejona, K’uun che’ (Yucatec Maya), bonete, Jacaratia mexicana A. DC. (Martin et al. 1987:91). Also Avocado, Persea Américana, used for much more than just a meal. Avocado is the most common tree in house
called wild papaya in Parker (2008:146) (but is not the tree which in Guatemala is called wild papaya and has gardens in the Lake Atitlan area and adjacent Highlands.
plum-sized fruits and otherwise the tree looks just like a normal papaya; that tree is probably Carica pétala which
now has a totally different name. The fruit looks a tad like a cacao fruit. Good photos on www.yucatanadventure. wild avocado, aguacatillo, Persea donnell-smithii,
com.mx/Papaya_fruit_trees.htm
Coyo, Persea schiedeana (Popenoe), Family: Lauraceae
Jarilla chocola Standl., No species of Jarilla is listed in Trees of Guatemala (Parker 2008) but most botany
web sites include it for Mexico and Guatemala (www.ars-grin.gov). Elsewhere it is not listed for Guatemala Guarumo de montana, Pourouma bicolor, Pourouma aspera
whatsoever! I give up for the moment.
Posoqueria latifolia (Chízmar 2009:278-280).
Lantana camara L., Chiligua nigrita (Jalapa); cinco negritos (Guatemala, Retalhuleu, Sacatepe’quez) ; ek-cuaiyak
(Alta Verapaz) ; mora de muerto (Alta Verapaz) ; sincuria (Izabal) ; vivarana (Guatemala). Fruit occasionally Malvaviscus arboreus, (Chízmar 2009:230-232).
eaten by children, and birds (Gibson in Standley, Williams and Gibson 1973: 202-204).
manax: wild cherry Pseudolmedia spuria
Leucaena leucocephala
Guava, Guayaba, Guayava, Psidium guava,
Cherry, Barbados cherry, acerola, Malpighia emarginata
Psidium guineense (Chízmar 2009:249-251).
Malvaviscus arboreus, (Chízmar 2009:230-232).
mora, Morus celtidifolia Kunth. (Parker 2008:566). Rubus glauca, Rubus adenotrichus is also called mora. mora, Rubus glauca, Rubus adenotrichus. Morus celtidifolia Kunth. is also called mora.
Capulin, Muntingia calabura L. (Chízmar 2009:244-246) Guano, Sabal Mexicana; thatch palm, also used for weaving baskets.
shaving brush tree, Pachira aquatica (also listed under sapoton in zapote list) Sauco, Sambucus mexicana. A lay person might consider the spherical fruits as a “berry.”
Wild Cucumber Tree, Candle Tree, Cuajilote, Caiba, Pepino de Arbol Silvestre, Parmentiera edulis. This is a Maxbal, moco, Saurauia kegeliana (Chízmar 2009:18-19).
close relative of calabash trees.
Zapatero (Peten), Negrito (Belize), Simarouba glauca, Paradise Tree, Bitterwood
Guarumo Guayava Jocote fruit Manzanilla Nance Papaya
Hog Plum, ciruela cochino, jocote jobo, Spondias mombin or S. purpura.
Jocote, Spondias purpurea; a suburb of Antigua Guatemala is named after this fruit.
Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels, Java plum. Need to double-check to see if native in pre-Columbian times.
Zapote Fruits
manzana, Syzygium jambos (L) Alston, eaten by children
(typical misnomer mishmash of Spanish language)
Guaya, Talisia olivaeformis (MacVean 2003:122)
Guaya, Talisia oliviformis (Kunth) Radlk. Note difference in spelling of the species.
Tanto, Tapirira mexicana (Parker 2008: 38).
Pataxte, Theobroma bicolor.
Cacao, Theobroma cacao
(monkey) cacao, Theobroma angustifolium
Chilindron, Huego de Gato, Thevetia ahouai, (Chízmar 2009:55-57).
Mountain papaya, Vasconcellea cauliflora, is clearly listed for Mesoamerica (Mexico through Central America)
into northern South America (www.ars-grin.gov). Formerly this was Carica cauliflora. It is worth noting that the
otherwise comprehensive TREES OF GUATEMALA still has the old name, Carica cauliflora (Parker 2008:145),
listed for Izabal, Montañas del Mico.
Bejuco de agua, Vitis tilifolia Humb. & Bonpl. (MacVean 2003:134-135)
Wild papaya
Sapote or Zapote is not really a word for one tree or fruit, it is a generic word. It is typical in Spanish
nomenclature for pre-Columbian things to use a similar word for things which in the scientific designation
Fruits on Vines
are not related (other than superficially). Spanish can be a very imprecise language for tagging plants
and animals! Fruits on vines is by no means limited to passionflowers, but there are definitely more of this genus
than any other. All the passionflower fruits we saw one day in Chichicastenango were not native (they
Black zapote, Diospyros digyna, or Diospyros ebenaster Retz. Also note that Diospyros nicaraguensis were introduced from South America). Four different passionflower vines which produce flowers in the
Standl,also has a fruit. But this has no zapote or sapote related name. All Diospyros species should be FLAAR gardens are all also from South America. But gradually we are locating other species which are
checked, since most seem to have edible fruits (www.wdt.qc.ca/treesna2list.asp?start=2701). more likely pre-Columbian. We appreciate the assistance of passionflower expert John MacDougal. He
is in the same city as the FLAAR office, St Louis.
Chico Zapote, sapodilla, sap produces chicle, Manilkara zapota
The passionflowers of Belize are not all resident in Guatemala; some species in Guatemala grow only
Green zapote, Pouteria viridis, called Achradelpha viridis in the cool Highlands; others grow only in the hot Lowlands. So we have a lot more research and field
by Pope noe trips to track down each species one-by-one.
Mamey sapote, Pouteria sapota Monstera deliciosa, Split leaf philodendron, ceriman, Piña anona, Not a fruit but is on a vine.
Canistel, Pouteria campechiana, a yellow-looking sapote Passiflora adenopoda, (Chízmar 2009:252-254)
sansapote, sonzapote, monkey apple Licania platypus Passiflora edulis, Maracuya, another passion flower vine fruit,
red zapote, Mammea americana, zapote mamey Passiflora foetida (Wikipedia)
white zapote, matasano, Casimiroa edulis Passiflora ligularis, Granadilla, fruit of passion flower vine,
Zapote bobo, sapoton, Pachira aquatica Passiflora quadrangularis L. This has a giant fruit; many times larger than all other passionflower fruits.
Zapoton Fruit Passiflora seemannii (Chízmar 2009:254-256)
Passiflora suberosa, Corky Stem Passionvine,
Punica granatum, Granada (pomegranate), is totally different than granadilla.
Zapote Zapote Mamey zapote Granadilla
Edible fruits from cactus Other fruits (not in trees)
or cactus-like vines Pineapple, a terrestrial bromeliad, Ananas comosus.
Mammillaria species have edible pulp (Martin et al 1987:88).
Since there are so many species, further research would be required. Piñuela, Bromelia pinguin, motate (produces rubber-like sap, Rochin 1986)
(Craig, several editions).
Piñuela, Bromelia alsodes, (Chízmar 2009: 130-132)
nopal and tuna, cactus, Opuntia ficus
Pitaya, Pitahaya, Hylocereus undatus.
Arias (2010) lists nine cacti from Mexico that have edible fruits. Most if
not all of these are outside the Mayan area. However there are plenty
of cactus species in the upstream valley of Rio Motagua, Guatemala.
So hopefully this list of Mexican cacti will encourage Guatemalan
botanists to make comparable lists of edible cactus and cactus-like
vines for Guatemala (they may exist already).
Pochas, Ferocactus latispinus

Chilitos de biznaga, Mammillaria spp.
Junco espinoso, Aporocactus flagelliformis
Limón de biznaga, Ferocactus pilosus
Tuna de biznaga, Echinocereus spp.
Alicoche, Echinocereus spp.
Garambullos, Myrtillocactus geometrizans
Pitayo, pitayo de mayo, Stenocereus pruinosus
Pitayo xoconostle, Stenocereus stellatus
Opuntia ficus, Nopal cactus
Pitaya Pineapple
Acorns (present in Highlands but not often eaten by local people)
Anacardium occidentale L., cashew, marañon.
Anacardium excelsum, cashew, marañon Silvestre, (Chízmar 2009:23).
Arachis hypoga, Peanut,; first in Peru but got to Mesoamerica also.
Brosimum alicastrum, Breadnut, ramon nut.
Coconut is a rather substantial “nut” but we discuss palm products in a section on palms. There are
many palm oil nuts that are edible.
Nuts and food that is

considered a “nut”
Marañon
Nuts, specifically on Palm trees Palm trees with edible parts
Cerpinus ceroliniana Walt. (Martin et al. 1987:83).
Capuca, Calyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana (Chízmar 2009:87-88)
coconut (potentially arrived before Spaniards)
Chamaedorea pinnatifrons (Chízmar 2009:89-91)
corozo palm: plentiful and still eaten in Peten today
Chocho palm, chapay, Astrocaryum mexicanum, shoots, heart, and flowers edible (Haynes and
coyol, Acrocomia aculeata McLaughlin 2000).
Brahea aculeata, palmilla Cohune palm, oil palm, Astrocaryum cohune, in addition to the edible nut, the heart is also edible.
Brahea dulcis, capulin Gonolobus taylorianus, some parts toxic (Chízmar 2009:107-109)
Ractrisbarronis major Huiscoyol, Bactris major (Chízmar 2009:84-86)
Rosengarten, in his excellent book on nuts of the world, Manaco, Manicaria saccifera (Chízmar 2009:103-104)
does not mention corozo palm nuts.
Palmito, ternera, Euterpe precatoria (Chízmar 2009:100-102)
Piva, peach palm, Guilielma utilis, edible fruits
Mexican Sabal palm,
Coyol Corozo Coconut Guano plam

Cooking oil Root crops
We may have one theme for cooking oil and another for lubricant; and another theme for varnish.
Sweet potato, camote Ipomoea batatas
Acrocomia aculeate
Jicama, yam bean, Pachyrhizus erosus. Flower is distinctive shape and beautiful lavender colors.
Corozo (cohune) palm oil
Cassava, sweet manioc, yuca, Manihot esculenta
Chamadorea elegans
Malanga, Xanthosoma species (these four featured by Bronson 1966:63-65)
Kaqiox, Marac, Quequescamote, Xanthosoma sagittifolium Booth lists Xanthosoma violaceum as eaten
Gonolobus taylorianus (Chízmar 2009:107-110)
by the K’ekchi Maya, osh, macal, and surprisingly says “the only species in this genus that is used as
food.” (1992:295). She does not indicate on this page what part of the plant she is speaking about.
Jatropha curcas, physic nut, oil for soap and other uses. Toxic as food.
Chayote, Sechium edule (root, flowers, and leaves are edible).
Zapatero, (Peten), Negrito (Belize), Simarouba glauca, Paradise Tree, Bitterwood. Also used for
medicine, and the oil also for soap.
Iron cross plant, Oxalis deppei (Stross, UTexas course outline)
Several other palm tree parts can be used to produce oil.
Maranta arundinacea, (Chízmar 2009:233-234)
You could also make a list of “oil” used as a lotion (we would consider that “medicinal”). I would assume
Mexican Shell flower, Tigridia pavonia (Stross ethnobotany course outline)
that the ancient Maya could obtain cooking oil from wild boar and other animals. It is also logical to look
for vegetable oils too.
Smilax spinosa (Chízmar 2009:295-296) Web sites list Sarsaparilla (Smilax officinalis) as an aphrodisiac.
Other plants which have edible parts Tubers of Solanum cardiophyllum and S. ehrenbergii are eaten in Jalisco, Mexico (Cuevas-Arias et al.
2008 :77).
Mangrove fern, Acrostichum aureum (from pollen at Copan; Fedick 2010 Dioscorea convolvulacea Schltdl. & Cham., barbasquillo, madre de maiz, could be considered either a
root crop or a vegetable. Dioscorea composita Hemsl. is medicinal as is D. floribunda (Martin 1969:373).
Fern, Microgramma lycopodioides (from pollen at Copan; Fedick 2010 Many other species of Dioscorea are present in Guatemala and adjacent Mexico such as D. bartlettii
and D. spiculiflora (http://fm1.fieldmuseum.org). Just be careful that the species you eat is not toxic.
Cattail, reed, Typha latifolia www.rook.org/earl/bwca/nature/aquatics/typhalat.html
Sorosi Vine, Momordica charantia, common in Izabal area.
white milkwood, lechoso, Tabernaemontana alba; chewing gum substitute

Spathiphyllum friedrichsthalii
Spathiphyllum phryniifolium (Chízmar 2009:60-62)
Yuc, Spathiphyllum blandum (Chízmar 2009:58-59)
camote Camote, ichintal, yuca Camote
Water plants: rivers and lakes
Since I have been studying the water lily for years, I am always curious why, out of all the many other
plants that grow in the rivers and lakes, why only the water lily is so important to the Classic Maya. I
have discovered several aspects of why the Maya selected the water lily (more than just the fact that
the water lily seed pod could potentially have been the cheapest and most readily available source of
tasty chemicals for Maya rituals).
Brasenia schreberi
Waterlily, Nymphaea ampla, is edible, and parts are eaten in many other parts of the world.
Surely there must be other water plants that were harvested and eaten. Tule is primarily for making
baskets and mats.
Pimenta racemosa, Allspice, Pimenta gorda.
Piper auritum, Hoja Santa; Piper amalago also has interesting properties (Ratsch 2005:451). Be aware
that Piper auritum may have carginogenic chemicals as well (Atlas de las Plantas de la Medicina
Flavoring, Tradicional Mexicana).
Polianthes tuberosa, Flor de nardo, (Schoenhals 1988:206). Also an additive to balche drink of
herbs, and Lacandon. Over the past 30 years I have noticed that most flowers and plants of the Lacandon area of
Chiapas are misidentified by ethnographers. The first botanist who is trying to get things done correctly
is Duran (1999). The first ethnographer who is working to correct past errors is Suzanne Cook. Once I
spices have a copy of Duran’s thesis and the monograph of Cook, I will be better able to translate Lacandon
Maya more correctly.
See also all the flavorings (in the next section)
for cacao drinks. Poliomintha longiflora (Lamiaceae). “oregano” or “marjoram” in the cookbooks, but I suspect that local
herbs are meant in the first place. At least two different herbs are known as “Mexican oregano”:
Bixa orellana, Achiote, Annatto. Poliomintha longiflora (Lamiaceae) and Lippia graveolens (Gernot Katzer, Geographic Spice Index)
Chenopodium ambrosioides, Wormseed, Porophyllum ruderale, Coriander.

Epazote,
Porophyllum tagetoides
Chili pepper, Capsicum species
Renealmia aromatica, MacVean gives local words as tzi or chucho (Alta Verapaz), nabay (Peten), and
Crotalaria longirostrata Hook & Arn.. Chipilin, rat plantain for Belize. She says pulp of the fruit is used to flavor tea. (MacVean 2003:136).
Unique flower;
Parts edible, part toxic (Morton 1994) Salvia Hispanica, Chia; seeds used; in juice; sprouts, etc
Cucurbita spp, Pumpkin seed Smilax regelii, Sarsaparilla, is used for root beer after sassafras (root of tree of that name) was found
to have bad side effects.
Dipteryx panamensis seed is listed in a Tico
ethnobotanical Tagetes lucida Cav., Pericon, one of several species of marigold whose flowers are edible.
dictionary as flavoring tobacco (on-line).
Tagetes minuta and Tagetes elliptica, Marigold.
Dorstenia contrajerva, roots flavor tobacco;
Tico ethnobotanical dictionary as flavoring tobacco (on-line). Talauma Mexicana (Gomez 2008:84)
Also (MacVean 2003:90)
Tridax coronpifolia, Castilleja lanatam, hierba de conejo.
Enterolobium cyclocarpon, Guanacaste
Probably another dozen spices could easily be added, though most modern spices come from India,
Eryngium foetidum, Culantro, cilantro, samat, Asia, Africa, or Europe. For example, coriandum sativum, is not indigenous.
(Standley and Williams 1966;
Chízmar 2009:40-41). Coriandrum sativum L. comes from Europe.
Guarumo, leaves also used for tobacco
Litsea glaucescens Kunth, bay-leaves, laurel silvestri.
Myroxylon balsamum, powder added to tobacco (Nations 2006:96).
Pachira aquatica, Sapoton, Zapoton, Pumpo (Gomez 2008:84)
Peumus boldo, boldo.

Achiote
Philodendron pseudoradiatum (Duran 1994:244) Guarumo leaves Pericon
Flavorings for cacao are nicely listed by Sophie Coe (1994) and then also by Sophie and Michael
Coe (2007) but you can find additional spices for cacao drinks listed elsewhere. In upcoming FLAAR
Reports on cacao flavoring I will cite all the flavoring that Sophic Coe and Michael Coe carefully include
and compare with ingredients that I have found during the past three years of ethnobotanical research.
Below is just the basic list of the most commonly known ingredients, which are included in most of the
better discussions of cacao and chocolate.
As a side comment I raise cacao in and around my house (literally) and the seeds I planted about four
years ago have grown enough they have their first flowers this year. As the first rains of the rainy season
hit, the tree trunks burst into producing actual cacao pods (through self-polination I assume, as at 1500
meters above sea level, in the middle of Guatemala City, I doubt I have any or many of the appropriate
species of midges to pollinate the flowers).
I also raise pataxte, though this grows much more slowly. To be an archaeologist, and iconographer,
and with a personal interest in plants and animals, to actually live surrounded by cacao trees and a
host of other Maya-related plants gives me an experience that I was not able to achieve associated with
a university campus with snow surrounding my apartment. However there are definite advantages of
a university campus as well: best is to have both: access to a campus and access to an ethnobotany
garden.
Flowers & seeds (mostly to flavor cacao)

• Bixa orellana, Achiote.
• Bourreria huanita, Popcorn flower, palo de rosa, rosa Blanca, Esquinsucha, esquinsuchil
(Guatemala); oreja de Ieon (Quezaltenango) (Standley and Williams (Gibson) 1970:132).
• Calliandra anomala, cabeza de angel, tlacoxochitl, tlacoxiloxochitl (Sahagun and Ratsch
Flavoring for cacao drinks 2005:119, 501).

• Calocarpum mammosum, piztle (the seeds of (Pouteria sapota, mamey sapote)
• chile
o Chilchote, Capsicum frutescens
o chiltipiquin,
o tonalchiles
o chilpaelagua
o chile that is widely sold in Guatemalan markets and called “chile chocolate”
• Chirantodendron pentadactylon, flor de manitas, Canek, teonacaztli.
• Cymbopetalum penduliflorum, Guanacaste, ear flower, orejuela, Muc in K;ekchi Mayan, uei
nacaztli in Nahuatl,
• Magnolia mexicana flowers, yolloxochitl, heart flower; possibly Talauma mexicana (Parker
2008:486).
• Nicotiana species, Tobacco juice (Ritual of the Bacabs, 35-37).
• Pimenta dioica, allspice, pimenta gorda.
• Piper amalago, Mecaxochitl, mecasuchiles, Higuillo de limón. String flower.
• Piper auritum, Hoja santa, root beer plant
• Quararibea funebris, Molinillo, Rosita de cacao, cacahuaxochitl
• Tagetes lucida, Marigold, flor de muerto
• Vanilla planifolia, Vanilla
The following are listed as flavorings by Ratsch, but are not widely listed in most books on cacao.
• Solandra spp. Tecoaxochitl (Ratsch 2005:501).
• Teonanacatl, Psilocybe mexicana and other species of cactus (Ratsch 2005:501).
We experiment raising cacao and pataxte. Here are pataxte seeds sprouting in our garden.
Pataxte pods harvested from the Costa Sur area of Guatemala.
Plants for drinks, beverages (not alcoholic) I would like to point out, as politely as is possible, that many
if not most of the identifications by J. Eric S. Thompson of
sacred flowers which he mistakenly “identified” for various
While on the subject of cacao drinks, I add now a new selection on indigenous plants of Mesoamerica hieroglyphs are incorrect.
for drinks in general. Although the present research is not (yet) on recipes, it is worthwhile to begin to
think about the Maya kitchen of thousands of years ago. There are also other errors repeated all over the Internet
(because 80% of the web sites simply copy-and-paste
Plus, tea in particular and non-alcoholic drinks in general are healthy. If you have read-between-the- plagarize what they find elsewhere). The most common
lines you will have noticed that one gist of the entire FLAAR interest in native plants is to improve the mistakes are with Flor de Mayo, Nikte, flor de nardo, and
diet and health of the populations of southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, and Honduras. four-petaled flowers (for the Kin hieroglyph). Flor de Mayo is
neither nardo nor the model for the Kin calendrical glyph!
For tea the plants I know the best are pimenta gorda. I drank this team (from leaves of the beautiful
white-barked tree), for five years in Yaxha. The identifications by Charles Zidar, Missouri Botanical
Garden, St Louis, Missouri, tend to be more reliable
• Marañon, tea of leaves than most epigraphers, iconographers, or field
archaeologists (his background as a botanist helps).
• Marañon, drink from the soft fruit above the “nut”
We will be expanding this section as time and budget allows. I can recognize which identifications in the literature are
hopeless, which are correct, and which are close but perhaps
There is also a section on alcoholic beverages in preparation. need more clarification since already in the 1960’s and
1970’s I lived in Peten and in the 1970’s through into the
early 1990’s I lectured on Maya civilization for tour groups
Flowers, sacred Pictured in Maya art, or featured in Myths

to Maya sites throughout Mesoamerica. It is this 40+ year
experience, in-situ, which allows me to write the present opus.
Lagartillo, Alibertia edulis. Flower potentially sacred (my estimate). Another reason for the success of putting together the present
nikte’ kisin, Bouvardia longiflora (Suzanne Cook, personal communication 2013, provided the Lacandon Maya opus is because I have a deep interest in flora and fauna,
name for this plant. The iconography I worked out already several years ago). and even more, I enjoy sharing my findings with scholars,
students, and the interested lay public.
Flower of ceiba tree, various species
Plus I enjoy letting the world know what a beautiful place
Aak’ alyoom “night flower from which Kisin was born” http://home.planet.nl/~roeli049/gloseng.pdf, perhaps
Cestrum nocturnum L (Suzanne Cook, personal communication). is Guatemala, Honduras and other adjacent parts of
Mesoamerica.
Commelina elegans, suggested by Bolles as pach dza, or pac dza, dayflower, Hierba del Pollo (Jim Con- Waterlily
rad, www.backyardnature.net.).
Chipilin flowers: white petaled, red petaled, yellow petaled (Popol Vuh), crotalaria longirostrata, Crotalaria
guatemalensis. This translation in the Popol Vuh needs to be rethought, as the ants were most likely carrying
other flowers besides Chipilin (whose color range is not as wide as claimed in the translation).
Waterlily, Nymphaea ampla
Flower of zapote bobo, Pachira aquatica
Plumeria species, flor de Mayo, bak nikte’.
flores del nardo, Polianthes tuberosa, bäk-nikte’ (Boot, after Bruce).

Amapola, Pseudobombax ellipticum (shares some features with Pachira aquatica).
flowers that attract hummingbirds
flowers on Maya bowls, vases, plates (that have not yet been identified)
Squash flower(s), related to ballgame
Probably another ten species, plus or minus, will be added as we continue our research.
Pseudobombax ellipticum Pachira aquatica flower
Flowers, edible Flowers as models and inspiration for earring jewelry design
Many flowers are used for medicine, such as manitas. Several other flowers are used for colorants. The recognition that Mayan earrings are flower shaped is all over the Internet. One web site even sells
Other flowers are used as flavor, condiments, seasoning. Some flowers may have been used as drugs, “5-petal bloodwood Mayan Flower Plugs.” Although the tree is South America the earrings look just like
though it was often the seed pod, leaf, or other part of the plant which was narcotic. You can see flowers those of the Maya. That earrings were flowers was also noticed by Mary Butler, Piedras Negras Pottery,
in each of these theme groups. Below we list primarily flowers which are eaten as food.
Pottery Vessels (1935:128).
Chocho palm, chapay, Astrocaryum mexicanum, shoots, heart, and flowers edible
(Haynes and McLaughlin 2000). Botanist Charles Zidar has also recognized the flower origin of Mayan earrings (personal communication
2009). The advantage of his contributions are double: first, he is an experienced botanist. Second, he
is familiar with Mayan culture.
Cecropia obtusifolia, guarumo, edible and nutritious
If you peruse books of flowers of Mesoamerica you quickly find flowers that should be checked to see
Pacaya, palm, Chamaedorea pacaya if they are similar to earings. One is Ciricote, Cordia dodecandra.
Squash blossom, Cucurbita pepo Lundell lists flowers which are “strung as necklaces and bracelents.” I would guess these are in Yucatan,
(http://ourgardengang.tripod.com/edibleflowers2.htm). Campeche, and Quintana Roo.
• black seed of Canna edulis Ker. (chankala, platanillo),
• the scarlet and black seed of Abrus precatorius L. (xocoak)
Dahlia, Tzoloj, Dahlia imperialis (Nash and Williams 1976; • Rhynchosia pyramidalis (Lam.) Urban,
Chízmar 2009:111-112)
• and the fruits of Acrocomia mexicana Karw. (cocoyol)
Pito extranjero, Erythrina fusca.
Palo de pito, Erythrina species. Be aware that the seeds are toxic.
Additional Flowers to check out
This is a list of flowers that attract my attention when I see them. Thus it is worth checking to see if any
Biznaga colorada, Cactus flowers, Ferocactus pilosus, (Arias 2010) of these was edible, was a scared flower, or was a model for an earring or other aspect of jewelry.
Loroco, Fernaldia pandurata Alamanda species
Guazuma ulmifolia Annatto flower is quite showy, Bixa orellana

Izote flowers
Chayote, Sechium edule (root, flowers, and fresh young leaves are edible). Acnistus arborescens (Chízmar 2009:297-298)
Isote tree (also spelled izote), spineless yucca, Yucca elephantipe Balsa flower, Ochroma pyramidale
Pericon, one of several species of marigold (Tagetes) which is edible. Bucut, Cassia grandis (OFI-CATIE: 439),
impressive mass of white-pink flowers on a tree.
Many parts of the waterlily, Nymphaea ampla, are edible, but may have chemicals which are not rec- tigrillo flower
ommended.
Flor de tigre, tigrillo, Tigridia pavonia, oceloxochitl (in murals of Malinalco).
This list will grow, but realize that most flowers are poisonous to eat (http://ourgardengang.tripod.
com/edibleflowers2.htm). Others which are “edible” may be poisonous if eaten in large quantities.
Guajilote, Candle tree, caiba, Parmentiera edulis, ribbed fruit looks vaguely like a thin cacao.
Tree is related to morro or jicaro (calabash tree).
Cestrum racemosum (Chízmar 2009:302-303).
Pacaya
Clavellina, Pseudobombax ellipticum
Clavellina, Bombax palmeri Clavellina is another typical Spanish misnomer in that five (or more) flowers
Additional plants which need to be studied
absolutely unrelated to each other have the identical name, Clavellina. One is a cactus! Many species of Solanum and their relatives need to be studied to see which were utilized and in what
manner.
Coralillo, Russelia equisetiformis
Ipomoea pes-caprae, beach morning glory. Plants which are associated with myths
Lacmellea standleyi, I would not rule out that some of the flowers of the plants listed below may also be sacred. Some are
mentioned in mythis, such as the Popol Vuh. (see appendix on plants of the Popol Vuh).
Mexican Butterfly weed, Blood Flower, Asclepias curassavica
Beans
Mexican primrose willow, Ludwigia octovalvis
Bromelias
Peacock Flower or chaparral in Spanish, Caesalpinia gaumeri
Chile-seeds
Pentalinon andrieuxii
Coral tree, seeds of tzite, arbol de pito,
Tobacco flowers, Nicotiana tabacum and Nicotiana rustica (divination), Erythrina corallodendron,
Erythrina berteroana; Parts edible, part toxic
Zinnia: it always helps to let people in North America understand how much of what they (Morton 1994)
have originated in Mexico or Central America.
Jicaro, Crescentia cujete
Morro, Crescentia apetala, Villar p. 45, 87 (Popol Vuh)
Jocote de jobo: Spondias

Jocote de mico: Simarouba
Jocote montero: Spondias
Oak trees, encinos, growing on the ballcourt area
Ocote, pitch pine, as torches, to light caves, etc
Rushes, tule
Sauco, Sambucus Mexicana
Squash, planted near the ballcourt, (Popol Vuh)
Squash seeds fall from head suspended over

ballcourt, (Popol Vuh)
Nicotiana rustica Morro

Parmentiera edulis,Guajilote
Trees with spines Bombax quinatum Jacq, Bombacopsis quinata, and Pachira quinata.
Not listed for Guatemala, but have spectacular conical spines.
that are replicated on Ceiba aesculifolia, palo de lagarto, lots of conical spines.
incense burners and cache vessels Ceiba, Ceiba pentandra, Sacred Maya tree, national tree of Guatemala
Ceiba schottii, but primarily in Yucatan (not in Guatemala).
Pochote, Cochlospermum vitifolium (Willd.) Spreng., synonym

Bombax vitifolium, for Sayaxche area of Peten.
Pochote, typical Spanish imprecise designation: can stand for

many different trees with spines, Bombacopsis quinata
(not listed for Guatemala), or Ceiba aesculifolia
(listed as palo de lagarto). Pochote could also be Bombax
vitifolium, for Sayaxche area of Peten.
Palo de lagarto, Limoncillo, Naranjillo, Zanthoxylum procerum
Palo de Lagarto, Chanté, Zanthoxylum microcarpum,
Naranjillo Zanthoxylum elefantiasis (Estacion biologica Las Guacamayas)

Bianca Beatriz Bosarreyes Leja. Not in Parker (2008:816-820)
CR means Costa Rica, since there are more complete publications on the
plants and animals of Costa Rica than the incomplete monographs on the
other Central American countries. I do not yet know the species
which goes with each Spanish name. We will update this list as
we have more information. At the end of this list of
trees-with-spines I re-list all Zanthoxylum
in alphabetical order
Lagarto: Abelmoschus (C); Zanthoxylum (CR)
Lagarto amarillo: Zanthoxylum (CR)
Lagarto negro: Lacmellia (CR); Zanthoxylum (CR)
Pito, palo de pito. Most pito trees also have spines. These spines are not
as perfectly conical as those of Ceiba, but these trees are nonetheless very
spiny. There are dozens of species in Guaemala, all with beautiful red flowers.
Ceiba flower
Ceiba pentandra
Erythrina Pito; Miche; Alta Verapaz, Trees are
berteroana, Machetillos Chimaltenango, armed with
Erythrina
corallodendron (flowers); Chiquimula, many stout
Coralillo; Escuintla, spines.
Tzinte Guatemala,
(Coban) Huehuetenango,
Jutiapa, Peten,
Quetzaltenango,
Retalhuleu, Santa
Rosa, Sololá,
Zacapa.
Erythrina Coral Tree or Alta Verapaz, Trunk and

folkersii Tiger Tree Izabal branches with
stout spines
Erythrina Pito Escuintla, Trunk with Flower reminds

fusca extranjero Izabal, Jutiapa, spines me of Pachira
Suchitepéquez aquatica
Pochote Ceiba pentandra
Erythrina Pito; Tzintej Alta Verapaz, With short stout
guatemalensis Baja Verapaz spines
Erythrina Izabal Spines

hondurensis
Erythrina Pito, Machetillos Alta Verapaz, Yes, stout spines
macrophylla (flowers); Chimaltenango,
Miche; Ucun El Progreso,
(Huehuetenango) Guatemala,
Huehuetenango,
Quetzaltenango,
Quiche, San
Marcos, Sololá,
Sacatepéquez,
Totonicapán y
Zacapa
Erythrina Pito extranjero
poeppigiana
Pito, Coama Huehuetenango, Yes, stout spines
Erythrina
Wood, Tiger Petén
standleyana
Wood
Ceiba pentandra Ceiba pentandra
Zanthoxylum caribaeum
Zanthoxylum culantrillo
Plants mentioned in myths
(see appendix on plants of the Popol Vuh)
Zanthoxylum elefantiasis (see naranjillo) • bromeliad
Zanthoxylum fagara • oak trees, encinos, growing on the ballcourt area
Zanthoxylum flavum • ocote, pitch pine, as torches, to light caves, etc
Zanthoxylum gentlei • rushes, tule
• sauco, Sambucus mexicana
Zanthoxylum gilletii
Zanthoxylum juniperinum
Zanthoxylum microcarpum (see palo de lagarto)
Plants to produce Alcohol
Zanthoxylum petenense Lundell • Acrocomia Mexicana, Coyol (Standley and Record 1936:79)
Zanthoxylum procerum
• Acrocomia aculeata (Balick 1990 and separately Chízmar 2009:66-70), Coyol,
Zanthoxylum rhoifolium (see pochote Amarillo)
• Agave Sisal, Agave fourcroydes, agave.
Most pito trees also have spines. These spines are not as perfectly conical as those of Ceiba, but • Anacardium occidentale Cashew nut wine (Standley and Record 1936:43)
these trees are nonetheless very spiny. There are dozens of species in Guaemala, all with beautiful red • Arcacia angustifolia, flavoring for pulque (Ratsch 2005:28).
flowers. • Lonchocarpus violaceusm Balche, or Lonchocarpus longistylus, Pitter
• Miconia argentea (ambergriscaye.com), White Maya Tree. Cashew nut fruit flowers
• Sambucus mexicana, sauco, I suggest checking whether this was used to make an alcoholic
beverage inp re-columbian times. Sauco alcoholic beverages are available today in specialty
markets.
• Smilax domingensis as an ingredient for a fermented beverage was indicated by Suzanne
Cook (personal communication 2013, citing Duran 1999).
• Theobroma cacao, Cacao
Chicha, fermented drink from maize. Chilate is used in the Achi Mayan area
http://licoresbaranano.blogspot.com/search/label/LICORES%20DE%20GUATEMALA).
Relacion de Merida (11:49) indicates that the roots of a maguey agave were used with balche in
northern Yucatan (LucidConsciousness.com).
This list will be expanded as I hope that books such as Alcohol in Ancient Mexico (Bruman 2000) and
the PhD dissertation by Litzinger (1983) and Marino Ambrosio (1966) will list additional plants.
Palo de pito tree spine Ceiba spines
To be valid as a list of all utilitarian plants of the Classic Maya, it is silly not to list plants commonly used
for alcohol and drugs. However these are not our focus; there are already plenty of books on these
subjects, especially Ratsch for the latter.
Pochote Pochote Agave

Plants used (or usable) for drugs • Tobacco, Nicotiana tabacum
• Tree tobacco, Nicotiana glauca Graham.

There is a separate category for plants used for smoking. Some of the drugs listed below are smoked;
• Tobaco de Montana, Solanum umbellatum
others are ingested in other manners. We have a much longer list of plants used for medicine.
• Banisteriopsis muricata, a vine (Ratsch 2005:89). • Wild tobacco, Nicotiana rustica
• Brugmansia species. Florifundia, Although not listed as native to Guatemala (Wikipedia) in • Wild tobacco, Solanum erianthum, Ucuch, uk’uch, Ukuch xiu
fact this flower is common today, including in public parks of Guatemala. Ratsch (2005:98)
• Water lily, Nymphaea ampla, probably more commonly used than given credit for. It is by no
cites Brent Berlin (et al. 1974:280) as suggesting the plant reached Mexico in pre-Columbian
means necessarily only or exclusively the flower which was ingested, but since we do no ex-
times. Several other species are pictured by Ratsch.
perimentation with drug plants, we can’t yet say explain what effects the seeds have. But it is
• Calea zacatechichi Schlechtendal, Aztec dream grass. Manuel Flores thesis is one source of actually the seed pod area of the flower in which the Maya were most interested.
info: 1977.
• Morning glory (used in Central Mexico; not yet as well known for Maya). Turbina corymbosa,
• Calliandra anomala (Ratsch 2005:118-119) Ipomoea species grow along the highways of Escuintla and elsewhere throughout Mesoameri-
ca, including at altitudes at least to 2000 meters.
• Cecropia obtusifolia, Guarumo, smoked in Alta Verapaz, (Standley and Steyermark 1946:22).
MacVean indicates that Cecropia.peltata is smoked in Peten (2003:48), also known as Guaru- • fly agaric skins, Amanita muscaria
mo throughout Guatemala and trumpet tree in Belize.
• Ololiuqui, Turbina corymbosa Ratsch (and probably others before him) suggest this is the vine
• Datura; most claims for use are overstated; but I would still estimate that datura was known on a world tree at Chichen Itza (2005:516).
and used (just that most discussions mis-identify the flowers). Datura flowers stand up; Brug-
• Passiflora foetida, amapola (many plants in Mesoamerica are informally called amapola).
mansia flowers hang down.
• Pernettya furens and/or Pernettya parvifolia (http://shamanix.extra.hu/infected/schultes/book/
• Dorstenia contrajerva, roots flavor tobacco Tico ethnobotanical dictionary as flavoring tobacco
g121-130.htm)
(on-line). Also (MacVean 2003:90),
Sinicuichi, Heimia salcfolia, Reko, Victor A (1926). “Sinicuichi”. La Revista Médica de Yucatan
• Habin (Peten), Dogwood (Belize), Piscidia piscipula; also fish poison.
14: 22–27.
• Huevos de caballo (horse’s testicles), Stemmadenia donnell-smithii. Not one single book or
• Quararibea funebris, Rosita de cacao, also a major flavoring for cacao
web site on Maya use of plant substances for enlightenment lists or mentions this plant (at
least not one of the main monographs on psychoactive plants of Aztec and Maya areas). I only • Ipecac, raicilla, Cephaelis ipecacuanha, induces vomiting.
include this plant on the list because Walfred Romero Chi, an archeologist at Yaxha, lists the
flower pollen as being mixed with other plant substances (from other plants; not specified by • Salvia divinorum, known mainly for one area of Oaxaca. No evidence yet that this was used by
him) and inhaled (YouTube video). the Maya.
• Acacia cornigera, Subin, Ratsch (2005:28-29) lists two species of Acacia: Acacia cornigera • Tanaecium octurnum (Zidar, on-line). Does occur in Guatemala (Trees of Guatemala, Parker
and Acacia angustifolia. Subin is very common throughout Lowland Guatemala; the other spe- 2008: 86)
cies is not as well documented in the literature.
Nicotiana tabacum Guarumo Brugmansia passiflora morning glory Nicotiana rustica
• Typha latifolia, cattail (Ratsch 2005:387) who gives a list of other tobaco substitutes. Plants believed by local tradition to increase libido
• Virola guatemalensis, sangre (has a red sap). Synonym Virola koschnyi Warb. We do not espouse, recommend, or agree with any specific plant which is claimed to increase interest
in athletic interaction between a male and female. But many foods have over a thousand years of as-
sociation with increased personal pleasure.
It might be educational to check what chemicals amaranth flowers or roots may have. Ratsch notes Also realize that many plants, seeds, roots, saps, and leaves used by ancient civilizations were toxic.
that species elsewhere in the world are so used. Many of the plant parts have some chemicals which give the desired high, but may have other chemi-
We do not focus on mushrooms since it is debated whether the appropriate mushroom was available cals which will cause more high than your body can handle safely. As but one example, it is remark-
to the Maya of the Peten lowlands in pre-Columbian times. able how many plants used two thousand years ago to eat, were also used as insecticide! So rather
obviously our list is not intended to be a menu.
Also check Almendro (Peten), Cabbage bark (Belize), Andira inermis, as possible narcotic use But, to learn about what ancient cultures used to increase libido (or which they believed might work!),
(Parker 2008:450). in addition to cacao, you can find:
Acacia cornigera, Subin, mixed with ants (Anderson and Medina
Tanaecium nocturnum, is a plant I have I am not familiar with, but it should be explored to see if it is 2005:190), Acacia farnesiana (L.) Willd., Acacia pharnesiana is even
also used as a chemical (http://psychotropia.co). more active.
Ananas conosus, pineapple, piña.

This list can be expanded by scholars interested in chemicals of plants, though hallucinogenic and Carica papaya, papaya
narcotic drugs are not a focus of my research. However it is probable that the Maya took plant sub-
stances in about every orifice of their body except their ears. Every other tribe living in tropical Amer- Castilla elastica, Rubber, and I do NOT mean as a prophylactic!
ica ingested about every tasty chemical they could get their hands, mouths, noses and body parts
close to. Many Maya scholars have documented that the Maya even included enemas as a way of Curcubita pepo, Squash, pumpkin, should be checked as a
getting even more chemicals into their bodies. possible supplement.
Eryngium carline, Chichicahoazton o hierba amarga de hojas

The Aztecs and inhabitants of dry areas of Mexico were even more into using remarkable plant sub- aserradas.
stances for spiritual journeys. There are so many books on this that there is not space to list them all.
Erythrina species, Coral tree,
The number of plants is almost endless. Ratsch (2005) lists most of them. Many of these plants have
not been noticed for Guatemala. Justica pectorialis
Licaria peckii, Sosni, Tz’otz ni, boil the bark; Tikal aguada.
Trying to pretend the “peaceful” Maya spent their time raising maize, doing astronomy, writing hiero- Vanilla
glyphic texts and building pyramid-temples completely and conveniently avoids seeing what life was Passiflora edulis, passion fruit, maracuya.
really like in the palace acropolises, plazas, and temple rooms for over a thousand years. The list
above is more than a dozen plants specifically for the Maya area, which is actually more than most Persea Americana, Avocado, aguacate.
monographs on drugs list. Any student or scholar who really had an interest in tasty chemicals could Pimenta dioica, allspice
surely discover twice this number of plants. So to ignore the rather obvious readily available drug
plants in the Maya area in monographs on the Maya is a tad unrealistic. Piqueria trinervia Cav., Family: Compositae
Piper auritum, hoja santa Mecaxochitl, acuyo (Rain 2004 :47), Xmak’ulan
Note that we do not list plants used as drugs by the Aztec unless the plant could also grow in Guate-
mala, Belize, Honduras or the Maya portions of Mexico and El Salvador. Smilax officinalis, also has side effects, Sarsaparilla,
Smilax spinosa (Chízmar 2009:295-296). Web sites list Sarsaparilla (Smilax officinalis) as an aph-
rodisiac. Suzanne Cook lists Smilax domingensis as an ingredient for a fermented beverage, citing
But chemicals are not our research focus. We are interested in the iconography of sacred flowers and
Duran 1999.
plants, and in utilitarian plants, plus which flowers were featured as hieroglyphs. We list drugs and
smoking only because a list of utilitarian plants would be rather incomplete without these two catego- Tomato, tomate, Solanum lycopersicon; or husk tomato, Physalis ixocarpa.
ries.
Damiana, Turnera diffusa or Turnera aphrodisiaca.
Vanilla planifolia, Vanilla, if cacao is an aphrodisiac, then vanilla flavored cocoa should really get
things going, especially with an avocado appetizer and papaya desert.
Honey (now you know why a marriage celebration is called a HONEYmoon). Aztec List (but for females
FLAAR List List from Ratsch
only)
I am naturally curious about these foods, but I think that if you need supplements to get things go- coconut Coco nucifera
ing that is perhaps a hint that the union is not realistic. However since the Aztec emperor had more Commelina coelestis
females in his harem than most Middle East rulers I can perhaps understand that he needed a bit of
chemical assistance. Squash (seeds), Curcubita pepo Curcubita pepo
Cyperus articulatus Cyperus articulatus
Details and discussion you can find on www.mexconnect.com/articles/2132-food-for-valentine-s-day- Eryngium carline Eryngium carline Eryngium carline
mexican-native-aphrodisiacs
Erythrina species. Erythrina americana
http://antorcha-op.org/images/ANTORCHA%20%20[IV.-2].pdf Gregorio Martin lists all medicinal

plants usable by females in pre-Columbian Aztec culture; not limited or even focused on aphrodisiac sunflower Helianthus annuus
plants. Nonetheless plants to increase libido are itemized as Apetito venéreo
Sweet potato, camote Ipomoea batatas
Ipomoea violacea Ipomoea violacea
For other countries, a good list is on www.goddessherself.com/plants.htm. The spelling is off for most
entries but as a list it is more accessible (on the Internet) than that of Ratsch. Justica pectorialis
Licaria peckii Licaria peckii
We do not recommend trying anything on this list which is not a traditional plant available in urban su- Tres puntas Neurolaena lobata
permarket vegetable area.
Passiflora edulis
We are preparing a tabulated list to suggest which plants are inadequate to be true aphrodisiacs avocado Persea Americana Persea americana Persea americana
(such as cacao, avocado, tomato and pineapple) and which are really significant drugs (which we can Allspice, pimenta gorda Pimenta dioica Pimenta dioica
estimate, as we do not try them ourselves, but we are pretty good at estimating results).
Piper amalago, mecaxochitl
And yes, cacao by itself is NOT an aphrodisiac unless you and your partner already want to interact Piper angustifolium
and you are using anything as an excuse. Cacao may be what the Aztec emperor used to provide Piper auritum Piper auritum
stamina for his exercise, but by itself I am not convinced whatsoever that cacao is an aphrodisiac
whatsoever. Piper sanctum
Piqueria trinervia
In any event, in addition to side-effects from plants to increase libido, be wary of personal illnesses Rivea corymbosa
that you can get infected with from your partner!
Smilax sp. Smilax sp.
Aztec List (but for females
FLAAR List List from Ratsch Solandra brevicalyx
only)
Acacia cornigera Acacia cornigera Tomato
Agave americana Unknown by this name
Tonallae alumna Tonallae alumna
today
pineapple Ananas comosus Ananas comosus Turbina corymbosa
Argemone mexicana Turnera diffusa Turnera diffusa
Papaya Carica papaya Vanilla Vanilla planifolia Vanilla planifolia
Cacalia cordifolia Honey Honey
Chili pepper Capsicum annuum
rubber Castilla elastica Castilla elastica
• Calycophyllum candidissimum, family Rubiaceae, madroño (Lorence 1999 and Cavallaro
2011:77)
• Castilla elastica, Rubber, hule.
• Crotan sanguifluus, Croton (cochinal croton) red tree sap (Popol Vuh),
• Dahlia variabilis,
• Hymenaea courbaril (Stross, UTexas course outline).
• Liquidambar styraciflua, Liquidambar, arbol de estoraque.
• Manilkara achras, chicle, chico zapote
• Myroxylon species, Balsam.
• Pinus pseudostrobu, Pinus oocarpa, pine resin as incense,

Castilla elastica
• Protium copal, pom, copal incense
• Quercus species, oak tree
• Stevia eupatoria; more often medicinal than incense
• Tagetes erecta, marigold, flor de muerto, pericón blanco, yerba anis,
• Tagetes lucida, a village in Huehuetenango and another in Chiquimula. yauhtli, cuahuyauhtli in

Nahuatl, Mexican tarragon. Tagetes lucida, burned with pericon blanco, decorates cemeteries
(Atran et al. 2004:93).
• Tagetes micrantha, licorice marigold (Gernot Katzer spice pages).

Plants or trees that are used to produce incense
• Vanilla planifolia
• Artemisia Mexicana (Ratsch 2005: 73)
Bitumen was also used as an incense in some parts of Mexico, but this is not a plant product.
• Bursera microphylla, Copal pom.
A latex of the stem of a plant, Tanaecium nocturnum, (hutkih in Lacandon Maya language) of the
Bignonia Family is used a a vulcanizing agent for making rubber figures for the Lacandon Maya (Bruce
• Bursera simaruba, Palo-jiote, muliche, indio desnudo.
1974; Ratsch 1985:128; Psychotropia.com web site). I list this here as rubber is also used, to some degree, as
an offering to the gods and could be considered a form of incense.
Plants used in divination (in addition to incense)
Muc ceh. An herb used in witchcraft. Standley, Bolles; but no identification of what species.
Bunchosia swartziana Griseb and Bunchosia glandulosa are used in ritual cleansing ceremonies by
shamens in Yucatan (YucatanAdventure.com).
In addition to incense, alcohol is used in divination; see that category (alcohol).
Plants smoked
The Aztecs flavored their tobacco with
• Ear flower
• Bitumen
• Vanilla
• Piper amalago
• Mushrooms
• Fern or narcotic root
• Uacalxochitl, Xanathosom sp or Phyllodendron affine
• And other plants not yet identified by ethnobotanists

Copal pom
(Winter 2000: 301, citing Anderson and Dibble 1954:69)
Other sources suggest they flavored their tobacco also with Liquidambar, Liquidambar styraciflua L.
The list that I have harvested from a dozen sources is now available in this 11th edition. The citations
will be in the eventual PDF; illustrations will be in our eventual web page on our www.Maya-ethno-
botany.org. My interest in smoking is because at age 19, while a student at Harvard, I discovered a
9th century Maya vase showing a man smoking. He has a big smile on his face and is clearly very
content. This vase is on exhibit in the archaeology museum of the Parque Nacional Tikal, El Peten,
Guatemala.
Many plants have different parts which each have a different use. So a single species can be in sev-
eral use groups in this FLAAR Report.
Also each use group can include multiple uses: so a “flavoring” can also be medicinal; other flavor-
ings can be smoked with (or instead of) tobacco.
I am finding so many Guatemalan plants that are listed as being smoked by the local Maya, that for
the 8th edition update of this report, I added a use-group for “plants smoked.” We are now at the 11th
edition and by 2013 will have a further update.
I would not be surprised if some incense is as much for the participants to inhale as it is smoke for the
gods. The large cigars sold in some local Maya markets for shamanic useage, are, to some degree,
more “incense.”
Bursera simaruba, Palo-jiote
Pimenta dioica, Allspice leaves, Thompson p. 109
Amapola (written as mapola by Parker, Trees of Guaemala, p. 101),
Bernoullia flammea, chunte’ (Itza), Yucatec Maya wakut (lucid con-
sciousness web site) or uacut (Parker 2008). If the seed pod were found Piper auritum Kunth, hoja santa, a common spice in Guatemala
carried in anyone’s hand on a Maya vase, all iconographers would call it
cacao (due to the flutes).
zapote leaves, probably Pouteria sapote, Maya
History and Religion, Thompson p. 109
Byrsonima crassifolia, Nance tree leaves are used to wrap tobacco to
guayaba fruit tree leaves to wrap tobacco, Psidium guajava,
make cigars.
Fuentes y Guzman as quoted by Thompson page 109.
Quararibea funebris, Rosita de cacao

Guarumo, Cecropia obtusifolia, Standley and Steyermark (1946:22).
Guarumo is smoked in Alta Verapaz, MacVean indicates that Cecropia http://toptropicals.com/html/toptropicals/plant_wk/quararibea.htm
peltata is smoked in Peten (2003:48), also known as Guarumo through-
out Guatemala and trumpet tree in Belize.
Pericon, marigold,
pinus
Tagetes lucida, flor de
Diphysa carthagenensis Jacq., wood being “possibly” used in Jocotan muerto (seller of cigars for
area (Chiquimula) for tobacco pipes (Parker 2008:455). Parker rarely Maximon said there were
cites a single statement directly (in her thousand pages). She only lists seven ingredients, one of
books and articles at the end of each chapter… which was pericon).
Pericón is also used by
the Huichol (Sierra,
Dipteryx panamensis seed is listed in a Tico ethnobotanical dictionary as
“Plantas, Ofrendas y
flavoring tobacco (on-line).
Rituales en el Centro
de México”)
Dipteryx odorata (Aubl.) Willd. Is listed as an additive for tobacco and
snuff (Ratsch 2005:828). If a tree has the name “odorata” you can un-
Turbina corymbosa,
derstand why. Naturally the question is whether the Classic Maya used
Morning glory,
either of these Dipteryx species. Parker lists four species for Guatemala
(2008:455-456).
Dorstenia contrajerva, Contra yerba, tusilla, roots flavor tobacco Tico

Other
plants
ethnobotanical dictionary as flavoring tobacco (on-line) Incense
Heimia salcfolia, Sinicuichi, Reko, Victor A (1926). “Sinicuichi”. La Re-

vista Médica de Yucatan 14: 22–27. associated
Liquidambar styraciflua L, Liquidamber,. is used to flavor tobacco
(Trees in the Life of the Maya World, p. 145). However this was primarily
with Tobacco Use
among the Aztec of Central Mexico. Merremia umbellata (L.) Hallier,
family Convolvulaceae,
the vine is used to hold
balsamo, Myroxylon balsamum, powder added to tobacco (Nations tobacco to hang for drying
2006:96) (Standley and Williams 1970:75).
Incense
Tobacco, Nicotiana tabacum
Wild tobacco, Nicotiana rustica

Guarumo
Mushrooms & Fungi Virola koschnyi Warb., synonym for Virola guatemalensis. But not in Parker’s index under any sangre de drago
(listed under sangre alone and drago alone!. Nonetheless, listed by other authors as sangre de drago. Seeds
used to flavor cacao.
Morales, Bran, Caceres, and Flores, of the Proyecto Hongos Comestibles de Guatemala, Diversidad,
Cultivo y Nomenclatura Vernácula studied in all the Highland departments of Guatemala. The resulting Sangre de perro
list is impressive. It would be nice to see comparable lists for the lowlands: Peten and Alta Verapaz.
271, same as one of the plants known as sangre de drago, Croton draco Schltdl.
Since their list is available on-line (just Google the title from our bibliography) there is no need to repeat
their list here.
350, Vismia camparaguey
These biologists are from the Departamento de Microbiología, Escuela de Química Biológica, Instituto
de investigaciones Químicas y Biológicas, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas y Farmacia, Dirección Sangre de Toro
General de Investigación, Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala.
693, Bocconia frutescens
Trees that produce blood-red sap 733, Ruprechtia costata
llora sangre
At least one blood red sap is a major feature in the Popol Vuh. I thus suggest that all trees which
produce a blood-red sap are worth further study, since fake blood could have been of interest during 271, Croton draco Schltdl, sangre de drago
some ceremonies. Of course the Maya also had achiote available to make things look bloody.
274, Croton xalapensis Kunth, (Parker 2008:274); Uphof 1968 for cleaning teeth)
Below are the “blood” trees listed in the indeed of Trees of Guatemala (Parker 2008: 1028). 414, Swartzia cubensis.
471, Piscidia grandifolia, palo de zope, zopilote (vulture). Relaed to Piscidia piscipula, Habin, dogwood, May
Sangre Bush, with narcotic aspects.
(Parker 2008: 576), Compsoneura sprucei 692, Bocconia arborea,
578, Virola koschnyi; other authors list as synynom for Virola guatemalensis.
Sangre de chucho
692, Bocconia arborea,
Sangre de drago
271, Croton draco Schltdl. Other species of Croton also have red sap.
474, Pterocarpus officinalis. This is the most probable tree for the virgin’s heart sacrifice of the Popol
Vuh.
Pterocarpus hayesii Hemsl I am estimating is a synynom for Pterocarpus officinalis (Jacq). Both carry
the popular name palo de sangre or palo de drago. It is very common in Mesoamerica for many to-
tally different species to have the same identical local name.
I am estimating these are not the same tree as Virola koschnyi Warb.
palo de sangre
Plants used for medicine Cesrum nocturnum, night-blooming
Jasmine, huele de noche
There are hundreds and hundreds of plants used for medicine in the Maya areas of Mesoamerica.
(very common in Guatemalan gardens).
Since there are already dozens of monographs on pre-Columbian medicinal plants, I do not try to keep (Ratsch 2005:162-163). Leaves toxic.
up with the huge number of species used for medicine. Some of these informative monographs are by.
Chiranthodendron pentadactylon, Canak,
• Appel, M. arbol de las manitas
• Arvigo and co-authors Ceiba aesculifolia, pochote
• Berlin E., and Brent Berlin
• Caceres, Armando Dialium guianense, Wild Tamarind
• Gonzales, Juiio
Erythrina fusca, Pito extranjero,
• Lee, Sandra
• Martinez, Máximino Gliricidia sepium, Madre de cacao
• Mendieta, R and S. del Amo
• Roys, Ralph Guaiacum sanctum, Guayacan
• Villatoro, Marina
Cassia grandis Guazuma tomentosa
Yes, I am interested in medicinal plants, but first we have hundreds of sacred and edible plants to Guazuma ulmifolia, Cualote
photograph and then more hundreds of utilitarian plants. With funding we can achieve more, with no
specific funding, we cover as much as we can with long hours at nights and on weekends. Haematoxylum campechianum, Logwood,
palo de Campeche, also makes dye
Please realize that many plants are toxic, even if “edible” or “medicinal.” We do not recommend trying
any plant for any purpose. Hymenaea courbaril, Guapinol.
Some of the plants listed below I harvested from the book Campeche en Flor and Guatemala Arboles Liquidambar styraciflua L., Liquidambar.
Magicos y Notables and lists of plants elsewhere. To complete the list of medicinal plants would take
longer than all other categories put together, so should be a separate opus and separate project. We Magnolia, several species, but very limited in the
would really enjoy doing a project on medicinal plants of the Maya together with a medical-botanist. eco-systems in Guatemala.
For Guatemala there are two editions of an excellent monograph Malmea depressa, root
on medicinal plants authored and/or edited by medical-botanist
Armando Caceres. He is also author and co-author of scores of
Sea bean, Merremia discoidesperma (www.beachbeans.com)
helpful articles in peer-reviewed journals.
Mimosa tenuiflora and other species (Ratsch 2005:362-365)
Astianthus viminalis (Jardin ethnobotanico, Oaxaca)
Momordica charantia (may not be pre-Columbian), Sorosi, fruit
Bourreria huanita, Esquisuchil
of a vine, Cerasee, pods orange or yellow; Izabal. Cestrum nocturnum,
night-blooming
Byrsonima crassifolia HBK., nance, edible fruit
Nectandra species, family Lauraceae, palo oloroso
Caesalpinia pulcherrima
Passiflora foetida (Wikipedia)
Calophyllum brasiliense árbol de leche, Santa Maria
Candle Bush
Piper auritum Kunth, hoja santa, a common spice in Guatemala
Cassia alata, candle bush.
Pithecolobium dulce (Jardin ethnobotanico, Oaxaco)
Cassia grandis, pulp has purgative properties (Fieldiana botany, vol. 5 page 116).
Psidium guajava, Guava, Guayaba, Guayava; also spelled (or mispelled) Psidium guayava)
Rhoeo discolor
Sambucus Mexicana, Sauco, Plants to produce colorants (dye)

The Maya used color for ceramics, murals, clothing material, and cosmetics. Color was also used as
an ingredient in food, such as achiote to color cacao red. Below most of the colors are for dye for cot-
Simarouba glauca, Zapatero (Peten), Negrito (Belize), Paradise Tree, Bitterwood ton for clothing. Two thousand years ago the dye would also have been used for fabrics from other
plants such as maguey.
Stemmadenia donnel smithii (Rose) Woodson, Huevos de caballo, common in Izabal and Peten and
elsewhere in Maya area of Mesoamerica. Flowers during late April. We spent eight days in the Lake Atitlan area studying plants for dye, so for this umpteenth edition
we have been able to add many new plants. We cite other authors only when we have not found the
Stevia eupatoria plant ourselves, or when a citation would be helpful. But the goal of this list is not to collect citations;
the goal of our project is to find, photograph, and make available high-resolution digital images of utili-
Tradescantia spathacea tarian plants of the Maya.
Urera baccifera, chichicaste
In a future edition we will do our best to divide colorants into colorants for food (sauco, Sambucus
species), colorants for clothing (cotton, bark paper cloth, etc), and colorants for both food and clothing
(achiote). In the meantime, for the 13th edition (May-June 2014) we list the plants as generic color-
ants. Some are also tannins.
By far the best book on colorants of the Maya is by Olga Reiche, 2014, “Plantas Tintoreas.” We will
update our list when we do more comparisons with her many years of careful research.
Achiote, Bixa orellana; actually there are at least two species or variants in Alta Verapaz. Achiote is
grown and used as a dye for cotton in San Juan de Laguna, Lake Atitlan.
Aloe, sabila is not an indigenous plant, so should not be included.
Acacia farnesiana (L.) Willd., widely elsewhere in Guatemala and common in lower Motagua Valley.
Known in British Honduras as “cuntich” (Maya) and “cashaw”; “cankilizche,” “subinche” (Yucatan,
Maya); “aroma,” “huizache” (Campeche); “quisache” (Chiapas); “espino ruco” (Salvador). The shrub,
usually called “espino bianco,” is abundant or dominant over large areas of Guatemala, particularly in
the lower Motagua Valley, some parts of the Oriente, and in Quiche and Huehuetenango. It is more or
less distinctive in habit, and conspicuous because of the abundant white spines. (Standley and Stey-
Manita tree canak Guayava Psidium guajava
ermark 1946:9).
Ilamo bark, Alnus jorullensis or Alnus acuminata. Used as a dye for cotton in San Juan de Laguna,
Lake Atitlan.
Malanga, Alocasa species (Mendez 2008:75).
Annona reticulata, custard apple, leaves and branches produce blue or black dye.
Apoplanesia paniculata Presl., Madre de flecha. The Maya names of Yucatan are “kiik-che” and
“chulul.” The latter signifies “bow,” and the wood is said to have been used commonly among the Ma-
yas for making bows. The name given the tree in Zacapa evidently alludes to a similar use there. Ap-
parently the same use was spread into remote regions, for in western Mexico the tree is often called
“palo de arco.” The bark is reported to yield a yellow dye. The tree is abundant about Zacapa, where
at the end of the rainy season the trees are conspicuous for a few days because of their dense mass-
es of white flowers (Standley and Steyermark 1946:165).
Arrabidaea species (Standley & Dahlgren 1931:353)
Chilca, Bacchalis salicifolia (Mendez 2008:75).

Passiflora Ceiba aesculifolia flower
Achiote, Bixa orellana; actually there are at least two species or variants in Alta Verapaz. Achiote is Guazuma ulmifolia
grown and used as a dye for cotton in San Juan de Laguna, Lake Atitlan.
Haematoxylon Brasiletto Karst., Palo de Brazil. Dry rocky
Nance, Byrsonima crassifolia, occasionally grown and used as a dye for cotton in San Juan de La- brushy hillsides, 200-1,200 meters; Zacapa; Chiquimula;
guna, Lake Atitlan. El Progreso; Baja Verapaz; Guatemala (Fiscal); Huehuetenango
(region of Santa Ana Huista). Western Mexico. Usually a shrub of
Chipilin, Crotalaria longirostrata, grown and used as a dye for cotton in San Juan de Laguna, Lake 2-3 meters, sometimes a tree as much as 9 meters high, the stout
Atitlan. branches often tortuous and armed with long hard spines as much
as 2 cm. long, the trunk crooked and deeply fluted, branching from
Caesalpinia coriaria (Jacq.) Willd. (Standley and Steyermark 1946:99). near the base, the bark grayish or medium brown. he shrub is
abundant on the dry hills and plains through the lower Motagua Valley,
Caesalpinia vesicaria L. (Standley and Steyermark 1946:104). especially in the region between El Rancho and Salama, where it is
easy to recognize because of the deeply fluted trunk and the
Caesalpinia violacea (Mill.) Standl. (Standley and Steyermark 1946:104). abundance of persistent characteristic pods, unlike those of any other
member of the Leguminosae (Standley and Steyermark 1946:138).
Cassia Tora L., frijolillo, seeds are used as a mordant to dye cloth blue (Standley and Steyermark
1946:129-130). Haematoxylum campechianum, Palo de tinta, Palo de Campeche, logwood.
Common alongside rivers, lakes, and any moist area of Peten and elsewhere
Cedrela mexicana, Cedro (Mendez 2008:75). in the warm Lowlands.
Fustic, mora, Maclura tinctoria (L.) D. Don ex Steud., synonym is Chlorophora tinctoria, dye; wood Pericon, Hypericum perforatum, grown and used as a dye for cotton in San Juan
utilitarian. de Laguna, Lake Atitlan.
Diphysa floribunda Peyritsch, Palo Amarillo, Canquixte, Qu’ix-c’an-te (Standley and Steyermark Indigo, Indigofera suffruticosa (plus several other potential species).
1946:245; Ajxup Itzep 2010). A caserio of Sacatepequez is named after this tree, Guachipilin.
Indigofera Thibaudiana DC.
Palo de pito, coral tree, Tzite, Erythrina corallodendron and/or Erythrina berteroana. Another spe-
cies is Erythrina Americana (Ratsch 2005:234 and Mendez 2008:75). Pito is grown and used as a dye Indigofera tinctoria L.
for cotton in San Juan de Laguna, Lake Atitlan. There are many many different species of Erythrina
growing throughout much of Guatemala. Jacobinia spicigera, Añil, Anile (Standley & Dahlgren 1931:360)
Eupatorium albicaule Schultz Bip. Old Woman’s Walking-stick. Soscha, Xoltexnuc (Maya), Putunin. Justicia tinctorea, Sacatinta, grown and used as a dye for cotton in San Juan de
Tine-cordel (Honduras)...In Honduras the plant is employed for imparting a green dye to twine, cloth, Laguna, Lake Atitlan.
and other articles (Standley and Record 1936:398; Standley & Dahlgren 1931:384-385).
Leonurus cardiaca, Cola de leon (Mendez 2008:75).
Eysenhardtia adenostylis Baill. (Standley and Steyermark 1946:259).
Lonchocarpus rugosus Benth. Called “canasin” (Maya) and “black cabbage-bark” in
Dalea nutans (Cav.) Willd. Called “escoba colorada” in Yucatan, and the Maya name is reported as British Honduras; “cantzin,””canansin” (Yucatan, Maya); “masicaran,” “masicaron”
“mucuyche.” The fruits exude a yellow juice when crushed between the fingers. The roots with lime (Honduras); “chapulaltapa” (Salvador) (Standley and Steyermark 1946:283).
are reported to yield a red dye, and a yellow coloring substance also is extracted from them. Bunches
of the stems and branches are much used about the houses as rough brooms or brushes, hence the Mucuna argyrophylla Standl. Ojo de venado; Ojo de toro; Ojo de caballo; Ojo de buey.
common name “escobilla” applied to this plant as well as to other members of the genus. D. nutans A vine. This or one of the other species gives a very permanent and black dye.
occurs in great abundance in central Guatemala, often forming a dense growth in cornfields (Standley Combined with the scale insect called “aijshi” and alum, it affords a superior black
and Steyermark 1946:214). gloss used by the Indians of Rabinal for decorating their famous jicaras or cups made from
the fruits of Crescentia (Standley and Steyermark 1946:302).
Diospyros digyna, Black zapote,
Mucuna Sloanei Fawc. & Rendle(Standley and Steyermark 1946:302).
Genipa caruto, Jagua (Standley & Dahlgren 1931:367). Another Genipa species is arayol.
Tobacco; grown and used as a dye for cotton in San Juan de Laguna, Lake Atitlan.
Genista tinctoria, (Parker 2008: 447)
Persea Americana, Avocado, grown and used as a dye for cotton in San Juan de Laguna,
Madre de cacao, Gliricidia sepium; Ralph Roys (1967: 161) lists this as cante, yellow dye tree. Lake Atitlan.

Niij, in Mesoamerica lacquer is also from an insect as it is in Asia (from the lac insect). We have
Phytolacca icosandra, Jaboncillo, Be aware that several unrelated plants are called jaboncillo. found the Maya equivalent in Guatemala, still used by Maya craftsmen today (and already known to
biologists at Universidad del Valle in Guatemala). The insect looks just like the cochinilla on a cactus
Pouteria sapota, Mamey zapote, synonyms: Achras mammosa, Lucuma mammosa, and I estimate but the varnish one is much larger. It is called niij in the local Mayan language, and it needs a host
that what Mendez (2008:75) calls Pouteria mammosa should really be Pouteria sapota. This fruit tree plant (Jocote tree is the most common). The insect on the jocote tree provides a varnish-like protec-
has multiple uses for the Maya, past and present. tive liquid, not a color.
Psidium guajava, L. Guayaba (Mendez 2008:75, Morton 1987).
Punica granatum Granada (Mendez 2008:75).
Quercus species, Encino. This tree grows at altitudes above Lake Atitlan and is widely known locally
to be used as a dye.
Rhizophora mangle, (Red) Mangrove, mangle, dye.
Simarouba glauca, Zapatero (Peten), Negrito (Belize), Paradise Tree, Bitterwood. Also used for
medicine, and the oil also for soap. The comment on colorants is from Joshi and Joshi page 7.
Tagetes erecta, Flor de Muerto, marigold. This flower has multiple uses in Maya culture.
Lundell adds another six:

Achiote Achiote
Syckingia salvadorensis (standl.) Standl. Chacahuante, chactemuch, palo colorado. Also
spelled Sickingia (Standley and Record 1936:391).
Indigofera suffruticosa Mill. Chob, añil
Morinda yucatanensis Greenm. Xhoyoc, bejuco piñoncillo
Caesalpinia platyloba Wats. Chacte
Ditaxis tinctoria (Millsp.) Pax & Hoffm. Tinta roja
Additional colorants are listed in the recent monograph by Houston et al. (2009:1003-1009) on an-
cient Maya color. Their list is helpful, but provides no photographs of the actual plants. Nonetheless
the amount of weeks in a library and/or on the Internet to prepare their list is impressive.
Other colors are listed in reports related to projects of Hideo Kojima. We have also found more plants
for colorants in the book by Manuel Mendez. So we put all these in Appendix D. An excellent source Cochinilla Mamey
of knowledge of Maya plants which produce colorants is the new book in press by Olga Reiche.
What is worth noting is that no one single monograph lists all the colorants; for example, the informa-
tive book by Manuel Mendez, based on field work in San Juan la Laguna, misses nance, which we
found being used by the oldest and largest of the eco-plant dye associations in the town. The found-
ers of this association are pictured frequently in his booklet. Finally, in April 2014, a monograph on
Maya area colorants finally appeared.
It would make a great dissertation for a student to go out, find each and every plant in the list of Hou-
ston et al., Mendez, Kojima, etc and record a recipe for each plant, and show actual color samples
(Kojima’s team did a great job at starting, however the mordants were modern). Actually one person
has done this already for colors for weaving (decades before the book on color was conceived) for
scores of local plants but it has been over 40 years (literally) since I saw the original (one copy is all
that exists) in a library in Na Bolom, San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico.
Nance Anona
Plants used to make ink Acacia Farnesiana (L.) Willd., (Standley and Steyermark 1946:9), now known as Vachellia farnesiana.
This is a new category, for the January 2013 edition. Hymenaea courbaril, Guapinol, should be studied as a potential perfume.
We will add more plants as we distinguish between
plant dye for textiles (for clothing) and plant Linaloe is unclear whether it is native or originally brought in, because today the main source is India.
colorants for ink. But it is potentially originally from Mexico.
Acacia Farnesiana (L.) Willd., (Standley and Magnolia, several species. We are actively searching for Magnolia and Talauma species in Guate-
Steyermark 1946:9). mala. These trees are near extinction and can be found only in extremely remote areas.
Plant substances for Plumeria species, flor de Mayo (and many other local names, such as fangipani); two are well known:
Plumeria rubra and Plumeria alba.
cosmetics Polianthes tuberosa, Flor de Nardo, one of the more fragrant flowers of Guatemala. We grow it in the
See also separate section on medicinal plants, and on colorants. FLAAR ethnobotanical garden. Main habitat in Guatemala is Costa Sur, where it is cultivated (not
We are developing an additional theme section on perfumes (below). wild).
Since I do not use cosmetics or perfumes I am not an expert in whether
to list both in one theme, or separate them; so I will have them Turbina corymbosa and synonym Rivea corymbosa, known as ololiuqui among the Aztec; family Con-
provisionally as two separate themes.
vulvaceae, looks like a morning glory to some degree.
Charcoal, for black
Vanilla planifolia
Cochneal, for red colorant. These are insects but their host is a plant,
Opuntia species. A web site which lists plants with nice fragrance from around the world is http://faq.gardenweb.com/
faq/lists/fragrant/2004062551022245.html.
Plants (usually flowers) Plants for decoration (necklace beads and comparable)
used for perfume
This is a new category for the January 2013 edition. We have updated this for Erythrina, various species.
the June 2014 edition. We will add more flowers to this list as time and funding
allows. For example, most of the saps and resins used for incense can Ormosia, various species.
sometimes be used as perfume. We are interested in natural perfumes
(used or usable by Mayan people of Mesoamerica), not manufactured Macromeria guatemalensis I. M. Johnston, Itamo real (San Marcos); te de monte (Huehuetenango)
chemicals. (Gibson in Standley and Williams 1970: 153-155).
For the category I use the word perfume to start with, but I also mean any Rhynchosia pyramidalis
plant (usually the flower) which has a fragrant enough aroma so if you
walk near the plant you can already notice the aroma. For example, if we nipple fruit, bright orange fruit which looks like cow’s udders, is sold as Christmas decoration in Gua-
are 10 to 15 meters from some magnolia trees in the forests of the Nebaj- temala.
Chajul-El-Quiche area (Finca La Perla) we can notice there are magnolia trees
in flower (these are rare species of native magnolia; not the other magnolia species Martinez 1987 lists additional plants (Ratsch 2005:240).
planted for their giant flowers).
Brugmansia and huelle de noche are both plants whose aroma is easily noticed within
5 meters of the plant. If you put you nose up to the actual flower you may receive
more chemicals that you really ought to be asking for. So we do not recommend
trying this, especially not with most plants of the family Solanaceae.
I would also investigate most of the flavorings for cacao, flavorings for
tobacco, such as Quararibea funebris, pericon (Tagetes lucida, a marigold
but tiny flower and very different appearance than flor de Muerto kind of
marigold), and other plants. palo de pito erythrina
Helicteres guazumifolia, fiber used for cordage (Parker 2008:889)
Plants to make clothing Wild cotton, Hibiscus pernambucensis,
Mano de leon, Hampea stipitata.

amate, Ficus species, bark paper was used as clothing in
addition to as paper Mimbre, Monstera pertusa, peel the roots for material for
baskets (MacVean 2003:32)
cotton, Gossypium hirsutum, is native to Americas as other
cotton was in India and other parts of the Old Word also.
More than 15 species of native cotton are listed for Mexico Nance, Byrsonima crassifolia, strong fiber
alone. Native cotton is also known for Peru. (Bye and Linares 1990:158)
agave, especially in areas where these plants grow.
Philodendron, Philodendron sp., roots used for baskets;
Maguey, Furcraea species even in pre-Columbian times (Tikal, Early Classic burial;
Moholy-Nagy 2001: 91).
Several other plants can also produce thread or cloth.
Sisal, maguey, henequen, Agave sisalon, Agave fourcroydes
Plant material used for basketry, ropes, mats Cotton

Maguey, Furcraea species. There are many species.
Tule, Typha dominguensis

The diversity of materials used for basketry is considerable. Each part of Guatemala has different
materials (since their local eco-system is different). So this segment of the list will continue to grow. Lundell also mentions the following:
Another dozen plants used for making baskets are in the FLAAR Report on Guatemalan basketry, Aechmea magdalenae André. Cham, piñuela
available as a PDF from our www.maya-archaeology.org. In the meantime here is an introductory list
of about two dozen plants used for making petates, baskets, and cordage. Sida acuta Burm. Chichibe
Capulin, Trema micrantha; bark produces cordage (Parker 2008:928). Abutilon lignosum (Cav.) Don. Zacxiu, yaxholche
Muntingia calabura L. Capulin (Chízmar 2009:244-246)

Capulin, Muntingia calabura, fiber from bark for baskets (MacVean 2003:62).
Heliocarpus spp.
Carludovica palmate, can be used for making hats. Hibiscus tiliaceus L. Xtolol Nance Fruit
Belotia campbellii Sprangue. Moho
Cattail, Typha angustifolia (Lundell)
Cymbopetalum penduliflorum, the dried flowers are called Orejuelas and is major flavoring for cacao;
Plants for other utilitarian use
bark is used to make rope (Parker 2008: 887). Aceituno, wild pigeon plum Hirtella racemosa, H. americana, H. triandra
Bottle gourd, Lagenaria siceraria

Desmoncus quasillarus, stalks used to make baskets (Palenque area)
Croton xalapensis Kunth, (Parker 2008:274); Uphof 1968 for cleaning teeth)
Vogl et al. 2002: 637 Curatella americana, leaves used for sandpaper (Lundell 1938)
Desmoncus orthocanthos Mart., bayal, baskets, even walls of buildings are made with this remarable Dalea nutans (Cav.) Willd. Called “escoba colorada” in Yucatan (Standley and Steyermark 1946:214).
palm vine plant.
Escoba palm, Cryosophila argentea, common in Peten; easily to identify due to medium size and
Guano, Sabal Mexicana; thatch palm, but also for hats and mats (Lundell) lower trunk covered in spines. Escoba is the Spanish name for broom.
Guazuma ulmifolia, Pixoy (Lundell; Parker 2008:889). Cryosophila stauracantha, Belize (Ford 2008:Table 3).
Belotia Mexicana, bark to tie broom material together
(Vogl et al. 2002: 637)
Utilitarian use: soap
I have seen comments on about four main plants that can produce soap: one is the Soap tree, Sapin-
Mangifera indica, broomstick (Vogl et al. 2002: 637) dus saponaria. As I did more research, I found additional plants which can be used by local people to
produce soap.
Ochroma lagopus to carry heavy loads (Vogl et al. 2002: 638)
Cassia grandis, ashes of the wood used for making soap (Fieldiana botany, vol. 5 page116). This
Cotton-like fiber from Ceiba, for pillows statement copied by Parker 2008:401. Cassia is also used to flavor cacao.
Ochroma pyramidale, balsa Ceiba pentandra, seeds are edible; oil may be used to burn in lamps; seeds also may be used to
make soap (Walter de Gruyter, encyclopedia of biology).
Typha angustifolia
Chlorogalum species is another possible plant to produce soap.
Thrinax (chit) are all mentioned by Lundell 1938.
Guazuma ulmifolia has more uses than I ever imagined. One use is as soap.
Arthroslylidium pillieri and Arthrostylidium spinosum
are used for fish spears (Lundell 1938) Ipomoea murucoides Roem. & Schult. Although in same genus as morning glory vines, this is a tree.
It is common and conspicuous in the central region, especially about Antigua, where it is often plant-
ed for living fence posts or for hedges. It is more abundant in the west, and is conspicuous on the
arid hills about Sacapulas in Quiche*. The trees are conspicuous because of their white trunks and
Utilitarian Use: Tanning branches, which look as if they had been used as roosting places by birds. The abundant large white
flowers are very handsome (Standley and Williams 1970:43). They give the following local names:
Siete
camisas; tonche; tutumuzco; tutumuste; siete pellejos; tutumuscuavo; palo bianco; siete capas; tutus-
muscuago; tutumuzcual.
Jatropha curcas, physic nut, oil for soap and other uses. Toxic as food. One of several hosts for the
cochinilla insect which is used for varnish-like substance (MacVean 2003:66)
During Christmas week 2012, the weavers of San Juan la Laguna, Lake Atitlan, told me they used
jaboncillo, Phytolacca icosandra, as soap many decades ago. Today they use this large bush as a
source of dye for coloring their cotton weaving.
Sapindus saponaria, Soap tree.
Solanum mammosum, Nipple fruit, Cow’s Udders; poisonous but has potential use as soap. The
whole fruit is used as Christmas decoration in Guatemala City. A close relative of this plant, with no
nipple fruit, is a weed in several parts of Guatemala, especially Peten.
Sterculia apetala, Castaño. It is interesting that three of the plants used to make soap are also usable
as a spice for cacao.
I will expand this section as time allows; presently our team is working on finding all the palo de la-
garto, sangre de drago trees, and all plants for condiments.
Utilitarian use: poisons

Lundell lists four plants used for fish poison
• Paullinia, • Jacquinia,
• Serjania, • Salmea
Plants to produce Insecticide Thrinax radiata
Annona species (Michael 2000:129) Grass, Imperata contracta, occasionally used for thatch (Lundell 1938) (not often in Peten, where
palm is used most often).
Lonchocarpus castilloi (OFI-CATIE 668)
Plus other palm tree species; but several of the above (guano and corozo) are the most common in the Peten
Magnolia should also be checked to see if any species in Guatemala can be used as an insecticide. area.
Cano et al suggest Magnolia dealbata of Mexico has this potential.
Tobacco Plant materials used in constructing houses, fences, etc (other than palms)
The number of Mesoamerican plant species used for insecticide is quite large. We will provide more
You could probably find scores and scores of trees used for construction of houses, furniture, and
coverage of this in future editions.
even more for building fences. I list here only a few (later updates will list more). The purpose of this
first edition is primarily to show the plant categories and give a general idea of how the long-range
Plant materials used in constructing houses, (Palms) project is being organized.
Andira inermis, Almendro (Peten), Cabbage bark (Belize).

Asterogyne martiana
Barba Jolote, Pithecellobium arboreum, Cojoba arborea
Lancetillo, Astrocaryum mexicanum
Bucut, Cassia grandis (OFI-CATIE: 439); also soap, and medicine.
Copernicia argentata
Bulhop (Peten), Bullhoof (Belize), Drypetes brownil,
Corozo, cohune, Attalea cohune, thatch palms. Also look
at Orbignya cohune (MacVean 2003:106-107). Spanish Cedar, Cedro Cedrela odorata, Cedrela Mexicana
Corozo, Attalea butyracea Cedrillo, Guarea glabra
Guano Palm, Sabel mauritiiformis, Sabal Mexicana; thatch palms, Chichipate (Peten), Billy Webb (Belize) Acosmium panamensis, Sweetia panamensis.
Sabal pumos craboo Byrsonima crassifolia
Sabal uresana Fustic, Maclura tinctoria (L.) D. Don ex Steud. dye; wood utilitarian, synonym is Chlorophora tinctoria,
Sabal yapa Guanacaste, Enterolobium cyclocarpum; large tree, useful for lumber.
Santa Maria, lemonwood, Calophyllum brasiliense Guayacan, is a typical Hispanic name used for many unrelated trees. Guaiacum sanctum is the one
intended for this listing.
Bayal, palm, but a vine, Desmoncus schippii used for wall material
not thatch. Habin (Peten), Dogwood (Belize), Piscidia piscipula, Lacandon area. Narcotic.
Plus other palm tree species; but the above are the most common Haematoxylum campechianum L., palo de tinto, palo de Campeche. Local people speak of “tinto
in the Peten area blanco” and “tinto rojo” trees. I am still trying to fully understand whether this is a different bark color
or variety or local mishmash. Do not confuse with the tree of identical trunk form, palo de Brazil,
Brahea aculeate, palmilla Haematoxylum brasiletto H. Karst. The palo de Brazil grows in the absolute driest part of Guatemala
(Rio Motagua, CA9, Km 45 through about 90-ish). Palo de Campeche grows in wet parts of the coun-
Brahea dulcis, capulin try and alongside streams and lakes.
Gaussia maya Higuerillo, Vitex gaumeri, yax nik (Ford 2008: Table 3).
Roystonea regia Madre de cacao, Cante, Gliricidia sepium,

Guano Palm
Mahogany, caoba, Swietenia macrophylla
Plants with attractive flowers
Malerio, Aspidosperma cruentum (Ford 2008: Table 3). Many native plants simply have attractive flowers. Although the FLAAR Report is primarily interested
in helping local people improve their health by encouraging them to raise more local fruits, vegeta-
Matilisguate, roble de savana Tabebuia rosea bles, nuts, edible leaves, and edible roots, as a professional photographer and also fine art photogra-
(also a pretty flower) pher I will admit that I also like to see, and photograph, nice flowers. I bet the gardens of many Clas-
sic Maya had at least some of these flowers in their gardens.
Palo blanco, gold tree, Roseodendron donnell-smithii
Philodendron, roots used as “rope” Here are a few (a list by Ilena Garcia,
staff biologist at FLAAR Reports):
puk-te: bullet tree, Bucida buceras
Asclepias curassavica, Hierba de cantil
Rosewood, Dalbergia stevensonii, construction.
Tabebuia species; several are lumber trees Aristolochia grandiflora, Matamoscas

(Parker 2008:93-95) Madre de cacao
Tamarind, Dialium guianense (Chízmar 2009:179-181). Epiphyllum thomasianum,

Reina de baile o galan de noche
Tiricio, spoon tree Trichilia havanensis
white milkwood, lechoso, Tabernaemontana alba Pachystachys lutea, Camaron amarillo
Zapatero, Negrito, Simaruba glauca; also oil from the seed. Petrea volubilis, Capitan lila
Plants from Mexico but outside Maya area:
Tristerix tetrandus, Quintral del alamo
Dioon edule, used for starch
Dioon spinulosum Vochysia guatemalensis, San Juan

Palo blanco
Of course many of the flowers of utilitarian plants
Plants which can produce Varnish are also gorgeous, such as the flowers of Zapoton
(Pachira aquatica) and scores more.
Vochysia guatemalensis
This is a new category which we hope to expand during the coming year. The best known varnish
among the Maya comes from a scale insect which is grown (domesticated) in Rabinal.
Another source of varnish is Hymenaea courbaril, Guapinol (www.conabio.gob.mx web site).
Miscellaneous plants that need to be checked further

I list the following plants because they need to be checked to see if they are utilitarian or not.
Quararibea yunckeri or Quararibea parviflora Lundell
The genus Diphysa seems extremely interesting. There are many species, with edible
fruits and other utilitarian uses.
Zapoton (Pachira aquatica) flower
Most common introduced plants (not native) Acknowledgements
Capable photography has been contributed by Jaime Leonardo, Sofia Monzon, Jennifer Lara. Recently
Banana Daniela da’Costa has begun to work with our photo teams also. Capable work in Adobe Photoshop
has been undertaken by all of them plus Juan Luis Sacayon. Presently (2012), Ana Lucia Armas and
Citrus fruits Alejandra del Valle are working with Sofia Monzon to prepare photographs of plants for a major photo
exhibit at the Missouri Botanical Garden.
Onion
Grains (oats, wheat, barley, rye) In our St Louis office Cami and Gustavo worked as a video team in 2011, so a total of six people are
working on botanical and zoological studies at FLAAR (plus a support staff of office manager, office
Rubber tree from Brazil (there was a different species already in Mesoamerica, Castilla elastica, but assistants, etc).
that is not the rubber tree used for tires and other products today).
PDFs in past years have been put together by many of the above as well as biologist Priscila Sandoval
and archaeology students Ana Cristina Guirola and Antonieta Cajas. The present edition in summer
2012, especially the layout of the photographs, is the graphic design work of Josue Daniel Mazariegos
Ochoa. Ilena Garcia has also worked on the production of this summer 2012 edition of this PDF.
Biological research in past years has received help from Guatemalan biologists Eduardo Sacayon,
Mirtha Cano, and Priscila Sandoval.
We appreciate the access to plants at the zoo in Guatemala City (yes, they also have nice ceiba and
other trees in the La Aurora zoo). We thank the helpful people at the botanical garden in Guatemala City
plus managers and guides at CECON in Monterrico (Centro de Estudios Conservacionistas, Univer-
sidad de San Carlos in Guatemala City). We thank the owner and managers and guides at AutoSafari
Chapin for access to the plants and trees there (plus access to the animals and birds). We thank the
managers of Estación Biológica “Las Guacamayas”, Parque Nacional Laguna del Tigre, Peten, Guate-
mala for access and hospitality while there.
We appreciate the hospitality provided at the Missouri Botanical Garden by Charles Zidar as well as
sharing of his information with us.
Since most libraries in Guatemala are not open at night or on weekends, and as I prefer to avoid hav-
ing to drive back-and-forth, I rarely use a library since they are not convenient. So I concentrate on the
several hundred books on tropical flora and fauna which are in my own work room. Despite not hav-
ing access to a major library, our list of utilitarian plants is relative complete compared with the helpful
books and articles written on Maya plants in the past hundred years (keeping in mind we do not attempt
to make a list of medicinal plants, since there are too many, and already a dozen monographs and sig-
nificant articles already exist: for Mexico, for Peten, for Belize, etc).
We thank the Museo Popol Vuh for providing us access to the several hundred books of the flora and
fauna section of the FLAAR Library in Guatemala. We had loaned this to the museum about 20 years
ago. But since we are working full time on flora and fauna we needed these books available also week-
ends and nights during the week. Since no university library is open these hours, we felt it was more
realistic to move this segment of the library back to our offices. Students have the biology library of
Universidad del Valle and others, plus any student doing a dissertation could consult with us as well.
Banana flower
The FLAAR Library on Maya archaeology, epigraphy, iconog-
raphy, and anthropology remains on loan to the Museo Popol
Appendix A
Vuh at the Universidad Francisco Marroquin (as it has been Thematic division of plants: comparison of Lundell and Hellmuth
on loan now for several decades). We do not intend to ask for Lundell lived and worked in Campeche and Peten for decades. He was a botanist and write his lists
this back at the present time since it is being used by the mu- from his experience.
seum curator, staff, and visiting students and scholars.
I have lived in Peten many many years (started visiting in 1963) and have photographed Puuc,
Although this is now the 11th edition over two years, I am no- Chenes, and Rio Bec architecture of Maya sites of Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan over sev-
where near finished: I find new plants every month. As soon eral decades. Plus I have visited the Maya sites of Tabasco and Chiapas during the 1960’s through
as we can bring back home the flora and fauna portion of our 1990’s.
library that has been on-loan for a decade, we can improve
our scholarship. But already our 10th edition is a milestone
for Maya ethnobotany, and our photographs-per-plant-species My thematic categories are based first on iconography and sacred plants; then on common-sense
are typical for what FLAAR is known for: extensive photogra- categories. My theme categories are intended to assist archaeologists, epigraphers, iconographers,
phy, high-res photography, and good lighting for the subjects. and ethnographers (obviously ethnobotanists also). I assume that botanists will know the plants in-
side out from their own training in biology.
Considering there is a recession and we have zero outside

funding: no donations and no grants, we are doing the best I have no formal university training in biology, zoology, or botany (other than what I have learned from
we can under the circumstances. decades in the Maya area, including many years living in the remote rain forests before population hit
these areas).
The appendices and bibliography of this 11th edition is being

put into a separate PDF since many e-mail systems are not A further reason for the categories I have selected is to help interested lay people and students to
able to receive PDFs over 5 MB in file size. So we are issuing learn the interesting, useful, and sacred plants of the Maya peoples. By 2010 my theme categories
two versions of this 11th edition: were well established. The report was issued in May 2011 and put on the www.maya-archaeology.org
web site in June.
• One as a single pdf (at full file size, over 5 MB in file
size)
During research to finalize the report I stumbled upon an article on edible mushrooms of Guatemala,
• Another version as two PDFs (to make each PDF more and realized this was a kind of plant that was not in my list anywhere. So I felt that it should be added
easy to send as an attachment). as a separate category, since there are 70 species of edible mushroom in Guatemala alone. I would
calculate there would be a few different species in Belize, Honduras, El Salvador and lots of different
species in Mexico. What is notable is that I do not remember seeing mushrooms in any other list of
food plants for the Maya. Perhaps they were in front of me and I simply did not notice. I will have to
look at Lundell to see if mushrooms are listed there. Surely mushrooms are listed in good lists, but I
sure did not notice.
And another rational behind my theme groups is to assist dividing the huge mass of plants into topics
that would fit on individual web pages. Web pages of excessive length are not always fruitful. If there
is more material than can fit on a single web page, then that material should be put into a PDF as a
download.
Presently, each theme will receive one page on our www.maya-archaeology.org web site. Later, as
we can afford to hire botanists, we will expand coverage to every single solitary individual plant: one
page per plant. This will be a separate new web site on Maya ethnobotany, since this many new pag-
Cojoba arborea, Cola de mico es would max out our Maya archaeology web site.
For all of the above reasons it is understandable that my grouping of plants will tend to differ from
groupings of a botanist. Actually now that I am creating the tabulation below, I am pleasantly surprised Lundell 1930’s Hellmuth 2010-2011 Ford, El Pilar, Belize
how many of my categories are comparable to those of Lundell. The only category I missed was trees HUMAN FOODS: Edible plants food
for dugout canoes. So this category I will add. It is worth commenting that Lundell was primarily in- cereals and vegetables Grains
terested in trees: he worked for the chicle company. I am interested in every plant, and especially in Vegetables
flowers. Edible leaves
Berries
Cultivated, semi-, fruits Fruits: all annona
I did not find the list of Anabel Ford until mid-2011, so did not have it available for my categories, nor Fruits
did I have her list of over 400 plants when I made my list. I had used individual pages of El Pilar docu- Fruits named “sapote”
ments when I was searching for extra information plants that I had already found. Fruits from vines or cacti
Other fruits (not in trees)
Both Lundell and Ford have a category for ornamentals: I do not have this category since my list is Wild fruits Nuts
focused on utilitarian use: food, construction, or sacred. However utilitarian is a valid cultural category. Seed pulp
Cooling oil oil
Other plants
I do not include forage since the Classic Maya had no cattle. Root crops
Seasoning, flavoring Water plants
Tannin, gum, latex, and poison I would include within other categories. “Production” is a category I Flavoring, herbs, spices spice
would have to ask what it means. Fuel is a valid category but pine and other fuel plants tend to have Flavoring for cacao
other uses and thus would mostly be in my list under other uses. Flowers, sacred
Flowers, edible
Of all the thematic listings, I would like to add “for dugouts” from Lundell and fuel from Ford. These, Flowers for earrings
plus my categories, cover about all the thematic categories that will assist transmitting this information Additional flowers
to the readers of our publications. I fully understand that we also need the original indigenous Mayan ritual
categories too. This would be a valid project for a linguist, ethnographer, or ethnobotanist that had Beverage plants Plants produce alcohol
time, funding, and expertise with linguistics. But in the meantime, the list of categories based on my Plants for drugs beverage
research the last many years has resulted in a list of categories that should be of use to scholars and
incense
students for many years.
Medicinal plants
Dye plants Colorants medicine
My list is not stagnant either: I have added new categories every year as I come face to face with new Fiber plants Clothing (fibers etc) dye
plants out in the field, or in a monograph or botanical article. cordage basketry, ropes fiber
Misc. useful plants Other utilitarian use
thatching materials Construction: palms
timbers Construction: other plants
construction
For dugouts
decorations
Shade trees, ornamentals
fuel
production
ornamental
poison
forage
tannin
gum
Introduced plants latex
Dr. Nicholas Hellmuth

Appendix B Saúco, pan de tzolo’h, p. 55, edible
Arbol de hormiga, p. 58-59, drums are made of this wood
Zapotes, p. 66, edible
VILLAR ANLEU, Luis Cacao, pp. 67-69
2006 Guatemala Arboles Magicos y Notables. Artemis Edinter Editores, Guatemala City. Pimenta gorda, pp. 70-71
Canak, mano de leon, mano de mico, arbol de las manitas, majagua, pp. 72-72, Highlands only
The book by Luis VillarAnleu is one of the better resources for a full-color photographic record of trees which Aguacate, pp. 74-75
had a sacred or other special value for the Quiche Maya. Most of these same species were revered or used Iximche, ramon, pp. 76-77
by the Classic Maya of Peten in earlier times. Naturally some species are found only in the highlands, some Guayaba, pp. 78-79
mainly in the Peten and Verapaz lowlands, and a few are more common in the Pacific coast and piedmont. Hule, pp.88-89
Chico zapote, p. 93
The book of the Popol Vuh that is available to us today comes from the Quiche highlands. But the Esquisuchil, pp. 126-131, medicinal, sacred among Aztecs, perfume
origin of these sacred myths is clearly in the Lowlands. The concept of a large sacred bird in a Ceiba, pp. 135-139
fruit tree is found two thousand years ago in the Pacific lowlands of Izapa (the Mexican side of the
Guatemalan border, between Tapachula, Chiapas and the border).
Other representations of the specific features of Hunahpu using his blowgun to aim at 7 Macaw are
found on the lids of Early Classic pottery from the Peten Lowlands. Indeed these representations
are in full three-dimensional ceramic modeling. My point is that there were probably diverse regional
versions of the Popol Vuh, with slightly different plant and animal species featured. Most of the animals
featured in the Popol Vuh are more common in the Lowlands of Peten than in the Highlands of Quiche.
One feature of the book by Villar is that the photographs of the trees are excellent; frankly they are
much better than other photos in other books.
A few major sacred trees are missing, such as frangipani (flor de Mayo), balche, nance, but for the
trees that he does include, the book is attractively presented.
Ocote, p. 22 (Popol Vuh, as torches)

Encinos, p. 24, 81 (Popol Vuh, growing on ballcourt and in general)
Balsamo, p. 31, Pacific coastal plain
Copal, p. 31, Bursera excelsa,
Copal, p. 31, Protium copal
Liquidambar, arbol de estoraque, p. 31, 113, incense, Verapaces
Palo-jicote, muliche, indio desnudo, p. 31, 34, incense
Tzite, Palo de pito, pp. 43, 45, 66, seeds for divination; created men (Popol Vuh)
Zibak, p. 45, created women (Popol Vuh)
Jicaros, Crecentia cujete, p. 45, 87 (Popol Vuh)
Morros, Crecentia alata, p. 45, 87 (Popol Vuh)
Amate, p. 49, source of bark paper
ilamo, p. 54, several species, associated with sacrifice in Highlands
Appendix C
List of colorants from Japanese projects
Añil (pálido) En forma Indigofera guatimalensis O
The following list is buried in an informative report, Capacitacion de Tintes Naturales, Solola, published in as- o I. suffruticosa
sociation with jica, FGT, and AGUABEJA. Professor Hideo Kojima is associated with several Japanese projects De polvo
in Guatemala related to colorants, especially cochinilla, but also for other colorants. Añil (muy pálido) En forma de polvo Indigofera guatimalensis O
o I. suffruticosa
Since cochinilla is an insect, we cover that in our FLAAR Reports on zoology, on our web site www.maya-eth-
nozoology.org. So far we have found only the larger cochinilla, which lives on the jocote tree, and is used for Añil (denso) Polvo Indigofera guatimalensis O
varnish (not for red dye). As soon as we can find the smaller red dye insect in Guatemala, we will add a page o I. suffruticosa
on that species. Con Palo de mora Corazón Al
Chlorophora tinctoria
In the meantime, below is an extract of the list of colorants from the Japanese projects. Priscila Sandoval has Añil (mediano) Polvo Indigofera guatimalensis O
corrected the spelling of some scientific names. o I. suffruticosa
Con Palo de mora Corazón Al
Nombre popular Parte que utiliza Nombre Científico Mordiente Añil (palido) Polvo Indigofera guatimalensis O
o I. suffruticosa
Mozote Flor Bidens bicolor Al Con Palo de mora Corazón Al
Encino (Base tanino) Corteza Quercus sp Al
Mozote Flor Bidens bicolor Sn
Cabello de ángel Parásito vegetal Cuscuta corymbosa Al Insecto Dactylopius coccus Al

Cochinilla
Madre cacao Corazón de Tronco Gliricidia sepium Al Aliso (Base tanino) Corteza Alnus arguta Al
Palo de mora Corazon de Tronco Chlorophora tinctora Al

Cochinilla
Insecto Dactylopius coccus Al
Flor de muerto (Mari- Flor Tagetes erecta Al Nance (Base tanino) Corteza Byrsonima crassifolia Al
gold)
Aliso o ilamo Corteza Alnus arguta Al Insecto Dactylopius coccus Al

Cochinilla
Con pallo de mora Corazon Chlorophora tinctoria
Aguacate (Base tani- Corteza Persea americana Al
Mangle con Corteza Rhizophora mangle Al
no)
Palo de mora Corazón Chlorophora tinctoria Insecto Dactylopius coccus Al
Coco con Cascara Cocos nucifera Al Cochinilla
Palo de mora Corazón Chlorophora tinctoria Mangle (Base tanino) Corteza Rhizophora mangle Al
Añil (muy denso) En forma Indigofera guatimalensis O
o I. suffruticosa Insecto Dactylopius coccus Al
De polvo
Cochinilla
Añil (denso) En forma Indigofera guatimalensis O
o I. suffruticosa
De polvo
Añil (mediano) En forma Indigofera guatimalensis O
o I. suffruticosa
De polvo
Madre cacao (Ligero) Corazón de tronco Gliricidia sepium Fe
Coco (Base tanino) Cascara Cocos nucifera Al
Aguacate Corteza Persea americana Fe

Insecto Dactylopius coccus Al
Cochinilla
Añil denso con Polvo I.guatimalensis Fe
Banano (Base tanino) Tronco Musa sapientum Al
Aliso Fruto Alnus arguta
Insecto Dactylopius coccus Al Añil denso con Madre Polvo I.guatimalensis Fe
Cochinilla cacao
Corazon de tronco Gliricidia sepium
Hilo blanco (sin tanino) Dactylopius coccus Al
Palo de Campeche Corazon de tronco Heamatoxylon campechi- Sn

Insecto Dactylopius coccus Al anun
Cochinilla
Palo de Campeche Corazon de tronco Heamatoxylon campechi- Cu
anun
Mangle (Base tanino Corteza Rhizophora Mangle Al
ligero) Palo de Campeche Corazon de tronco Heamatoxylon campechi- Fe
Insecto Dactylopius coccus anun
Cochinilla (Ligero)
Palo de Brasil Corazón de tronco Heamatoxylon brasiletto Al Palo de Campeche Corazon de tronco Heamatoxylon campechi- Fe
anun
Palo de tinto (palo de Corazón de trono Haematoxylon campe- Al Mangle Corteza Rhizophora mangle Al
Campeche) chianum
Aguacate Corteza Persa americana Cu Mangle Corteza Rhizophora mangle Al*
Coco Cascara Cocos nucifera Cu

Mangle Corteza Rhizophora mangle Cu
Aguacate (base tani- Corteza Persa americana

no) Mangle Corteza Rhizophora mangle Fe
Insecto Dactylopius coccus Cu
Con Conchinilla
Coco (Base tanino) Cascara Cocos nucifera Coco Cascara Cocos nucifera Al
Con Cochinilla Insecto Dactylopius coccus Cu

Coco Cascara Cocos nucifera Cu
Mangle (Base tanio) Corteza Rhizophora Mangle Al
Con Cochinilla Insecto Dactylopius coccus eu

Coco Cascara Cocos nucifera Fe
Mangle (Base tanino) Corteza Rhizophora Mangle Al
Con Cochimilla ligero Insecto Dactylopius coccus Cu

Nance Corteza Byrsonima crassifolia Cu
Aliso+Cochinilla Corteza + insecto Alinus arguta + Dactylopi-
us coccus+ Chlorophora
Con palo de mora Corazón de tronco tinctoria Al Nance Corteza Byrsonima crassifolia Fe
Encino Corteza Quercus sp. Fe
Aguacate Corteza Persea americana Al
Aguacate Corteza Persea americana Cu Cochinilla Insecto Dactylopius coccus Fe
Caoba Corteza Swietenia Jacquin Cu Cochinilla Insecto Dactylopius coccus Fe
Nacascolo Fruto Caesalpinia coriaria Chi Cochinilla Insecto Dactylopius coccus Chi
Nacascolo Fruto Caesalpinia coriaria Fe Nance con cochinilla Corteza Insecto Byrsonima crassifolia Al
Nance con cochinilla Corteza Insecto Byrsonima crassifolia Al

Aliso Fruto Alnus arguta Cu
Cochinilla con palo de Insecto Corazon Arriba mencionado Sn

Aliso Fruto Alnus arguta Fe mora
Cochinilla con palo de Insecto Corazon Arriba mencionado Sn
mora
Palo de mora Corazon de Tronco Chlorophora tintoria Fe
Granada Cascara de Fruta Punica granatum Al
Madre cacao Corazon de Tronco Gliricidia sepium Sn
Granada Cascara de Fruta Punica granatum Chi
Guachipilin Corazon de Tronco Diphysa floribunda Al
Añil Parrido con Polo Polvo corazón Mencionado Al
Cabello de angel Parasito Vegetal Cuscuta corymbosa Sn de m
Anil (mediano) polo Polvo corazón Mencionado Al

Cabello de angel Parasito Vegetal Cuscuta corymbosa Al de mo
Caoba Corteza Swietenia humilis ó Al

Añil ( denso) En Forma de polvo Indigofera guatimalesis o O S. macrophylla
I. suffruticosa
Café Hoja Coffea arabica Cu
Añil ( Mediano) En Forma de povo Indigofera guatimalesis o O
l. suffruticosa
Cedro Viruta de Tronco Cedrela mexicana Al
Añil (Manera Antigua) En Forma de povo Indigofera guatimalesis o O
l. suffruticosa
Cedro Viruta de Tronco Cedrela mexicana Cu
Sacatinta Hoja Justicia spicigera --
Caoba Viruta de Tronco Swietenia macrophylla Al

Cochinilla Insecto Dactylopius coccus Al
Caoba Viruta de Tronco Swietenia macrophylla Cu

Cochinilla Insecto Dactylopius coccus Sn
Mozote Flor Bidens bicolor Cu

Cochinilla Insecto Dactylopius coccus Cu
*M=Mordiete Al=alumnio Cu=Cobre Sn=Estaño

Fe = Hierro Chi = Chitaneo O = Hidrosulfito con Soda Caustica
Appendix D Sources and Resources for Maya colorants:
A dozen or so colorants are so well known to Mayanists that no citation makes sense to show the source.
Achiote would be an example. It grows everywhere and I would hope most Mayanists realize it is a common Bibliographic citations
colorant for foods and cloth. However yes, a bibliography for each plant will appear in www.maya-ethnobotany. Already in the Kojima and related
org as we add a dedicated page or PDF or PowerPoint for each individual plant. Since we have 400 plants to Botanical name Common names FLAAR inventory Lake Atitlan sources Houston et al.
find, photograph, and document, we have a long way to go (unless a grant or funding becomes available, in of colorants such as Manuel
which case we could produce the complete Maya utilitarian plant list, with impressive photographic illustrations, Mendez G.
in two years. Cassie, sweet acacia,
Acacia farnesiana
huisache
Alnus sp Ilano, aliso, ilamo
Alocasa sp Malanga
Aloe vera Sabila
Annona reticulata Anona
Argythamnia tinctoria Azafran, tinta roja
Bacchalis salicifolia Chilca
Beta vulgaris Remolacha
We have been gathering information on Maya use of plants since the 1970’s and I first experienced Maya use Bidens bicolor Mozote
of plants in the mid-1960’s onward. Then I worked on waterlily iconography and animals in Maya art for my
PhD dissertation (1985; published in 1987 with abundant illustrations). Since then I have been working to im- Bidens sulphurea Xochipalli,
orange cosmos
prove my understanding of the waterlily flower, plant, seeds, and eco-system. Plus I have become interested in
all the other flowers in Maya art. So I have been out in the forests, rivers, mangrove swamps, mountains, and Bixa orellana Annato, achiote
both Atlantic and Pacific coastal areas for the last six or more years. So the present opus is already the result
Byrsonima crassifolia Nance
of many years, and countless field trips with a complete photographic crew and a botanist.
Caesalpinia echinata Uitzquauitl
We add an additional appendix every several months. This opus is being updated and expanded the last nine
or more months (and is now in its 12th edition). Caesalpinia coriaria Nacascolo
Appendix B shows all the trees in Luis Villar Anleu’s book on Guatemalan magic and noble trees. Cedrela mexicana Cedro
Appendix C shows all the natural plant dyes listed in a report on Japanese projects (Hideo Kojima and others). Chamaesyce prostrate Golondrina

Appendix D tabulates which color dyes are found in which major lists of colorants. The informative book by Chlorophora tinctora Palo de mora
Stephen Houston, Claudia Brittenham, Cassandra Mesick, Alexandre Tokovinine, and Christina Warinner,
Cocos nucifera Coco
2009, on A History of Ancient Maya Color, University of Texas Press, has one of the most helpful summaries of
colorants. I would estimate the authors worked weeks or months in a good library to harvest this list. This ap- Coffea arabica Café
pendix of theirs is on their pages 103-109.
Colubrina elliptica
I felt it would be helpful to students and scholars, as well as to the Maya people who are still using Maya colo-
rants today, to have this list in alphabetical order, So Mishelle Mis, general assistant at FLAAR Mesoamerica, Colubrina reclinata
put the list in A to Z order. Then Priscila Sandoval, head botanist at FLAAR Mesoamerica, proofread the scien-
tific names. We provide the alphabetical reordering as the second half of Appendix D. Commelina coelestis
We apologize if the Yucatec Maya or other Mayan language names have a spelling glitch. As soon as the world Crotalaria longirostrata Chipilin
economy recuperates, we would like to provide a position for a capable Guatemalan student of linguistics.
Cuscuta sp. Barba de leon
Then it would be useful to have the list in alphabetical order in Yucatec Maya, and then in appropriate Lowland
Mayan languages such as Chol, Chorti, and the many important Highland Mayan languages. Dactylopius coccus Grana, cochinilla
We are also updating our list of colorants based on the many years of work of Olga Reiche. Her book Diospyros digyna Zapote negro
is now available (2014 onward).
Sources and Resources for Maya colorants: Sources and Resources for Maya colorants:
Bibliographic citations Bibliographic citations
Already in the Kojima and related Already in the Kojima and related
Botanical name Common FLAAR inventory Lake Atitlan sources Houston et al. Botanical name Common FLAAR inventory Lake Atitlan sources Houston et al.
names of colorants such as Manuel names of colorants such as Manuel
Mendez G. Mendez G.
Diospyros digyna Zapote negro Pithecellobium albicans

Diphysa floribunda Guachipilin Piscidia piscipula
Daucus carota Zanahoria Pouteria mammosa Chulul
Erythrina americana Palo de pito Psidium guajava Palo de guayaba
Exosterna caribaeum Prosopis juliflora Mesquite
Gliricidia sepium Madre cacao Punica granatum Granada
Guaiacum coulteri Purpura pansa Purpura
Haematoxylon campechianum Sacatinta, palo de Quercus sp Encino

tinta, de campeche
Haematoxylum brasiletto Palo de tinta brasil Randia truncata
Hymenaea courbaril Jatobá Randia lactevirens
Hypericum perforatum Pericon Randia obcordata
Indigofera guatimalensis Indigo, añil Rhizophora mangle Mangle rojo
Indigofera suffructicosa Indigo, añil Rivina humilis
Jatropha dioica Salvia hispanica Chia
Justicia spicigera y Justicia Simira salvadorensis

Añil, sacatinta
tinctorea
Swietenia jacquin Caoba
Leonurus cardiaca Cola de leon
Tagetes erecta Flor de muerto
Karwinskia calderoni Capulin
Tradescantia spathacea
Miconia laevigata
Absent Present
Musa sapientum Banano
Note that it would be useful in the future to provide a list of the mordants. But even with no recipes, the list by Hous-
Neea sp ton and co-authors is really a nice reference. To learn more about mordants, Google about mordants and you will
find helpful information. Kojima already lists mordants for the natural plant materials that he discusses. However are
Neea fagifolia
these modern mordants (?). It would be great to have a student or chemist or interested individual experiment to
Opuntia sp. learn the possible natural mordants.
Persea americana aguacate
Phytolacca icosandra Jaboncillo
Pinus sp. Pitch pine
Maya
Ethnobotany
Complete Inventory:
Fruits, nuts, root crops, grains, construction materials,
utilitarian uses, sacred plants, sacred flowers
If the file size is too large it is hard to send this PDF as an attachment, so we have the bibliography as a sepa-
rate PDF.
The bibliography can be downloaded, at no cost, from www.maya-ethnobotany.org.
The bibliography is in two sections: monographs, and articles. Articles often have no photographs. Mono-
graphs tend to have the most photographs. We will be issuing a new edition with the articles and monographs
in merged alphabetical order later this year. But already you can download the full PDF with everything (but still
in two sections within the PDF).

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Maya

Guatemala, Mexico, Belize, Honduras

Maya Ethnobotany 1 Complete Inventory of plants

leaf-cutting ant by Nicholas Hellmuth

Cashew, by Nicholas Hellmuth.

Teosinte, Zea luxurians,

Beans of many different varieties and colors.

Tomato, Lycopersicum lycopersicum

Chayote, dark green güisquil, Sechium edule; Sechium compositum

Chile peppers, sweet

Chile peppers, picante

Squash of dozens of species

Maize, corn Beans Calabaza

Tomato, Lycopersicum lycopersicum

Tomatillo, tomate verde, mitomatl, Physalis ixocarpa

Tree tomato Cyphomandra betacea (Stross, course outline), tamarillo.

Tomatillo Tomato Tomatillo

Capsicum frutescens, Chile pepper, (Elevitch 1998:3)

Cestrum racemosum (Chízmar 2009:302-303).

Chiranthodendron pentadactylon, Canak, arbol de las manitas,

Cnidosculus aconitifolius, Chaya.

Crotalaria longirostrata, Chipilin.

Cucurbita moschata, Calabash,

Ipomoea batatasm Sweet potato (Elevitch 1998:3)

Manihot escuelenta, Manioc, (Elevitch 1998:3)

Sechium edule, Chayote, (root, flowers, AND leaves are edible).

Sinclairia sublobata (Chízmar 2009:113-116).

Solanum americanum Mill., Macuy.

Crotalaria longirostrata, Chipilin pimenta gorda

Guanacaste, Enterolobium cyclocarpum (Niembro Rocas 2002, MacVean 2003:84-85)

Cualote, Guazuma ulmifolia Lam. (MacVean 2003:128-129).

Cerasee, Sorosi vine, Momordica charantia, pods orange or yellow; Izabal.

Sterculia apetala, castaña, ground seeds to make a drink (Parker 2008:890).

Jicara Bernoullia flammea, Mapola flower

Xelel, Inga thibaudiana, (Chízmar 2009:191-192)

Inga vera, (Chízmar 2009:193-194)

Paterna, Inga paterna, seed pods; common in Guatemala

Theobroma angustifolium, monkey cacao.

Vallesia glabra Cav. (Martin et al. 1987:82).

White Maya Tree, Miconia argentea

Allspice berry, Pimenta racemosa, I list this also under seasoning.

Vaccinium confertum, Tlo’Chaj a berry from the Tajumulco region.

Vaccinium consanguineum (Chízmar 2009:174-175).

White Maya Tree, Miconia argentea

Paterna Cacao seeds Cacao seeds

Annona glabra, Anonillo,

Annona diversifolia, Anona Blanca, papauce, Ilama,

Annona muricata, Guanábana, custard apple, soursop,

Annona primigenia, Anonillo

Annona purpurea, Soncoya, matacuy, Covered with conical spines.

Annona reticulata, Custard apple,

Annona scleroderma Saff., Poshte (Martin et al. 1987:81).

Annona squamosa, Sugar apple,

Cymbopetalum penduliflorum, orejuela, anona de Montaña

(primarily trees, lots of annona first) Cymbopetalum mayanumm Tulche

Malmea depressa, anona (Parker 2008:49-50; MacVean 2003:24-25).

Sugar apple fruit flower, Annona

Sugar apple Annona squamosa flower Annona muricata Annona purpurea

Crataegus Mexicana Moc. & Sesse ex DC., Family Rosaceae,

Guarumo, trumpet tree, Cecropia peltata

Celtis iguanaea (Jacq.) Sarg. Family Ulmaceae, uña de gato.

Iicaco, Chrysobalanus icaco