PRELIMINARY LIST OF BOTANICAL SPECIES GROWN AT SOUTH CENTRAL COMMUNITY GARDEN
Prepared June 2005 by
Devon G. Peña
Department of Anthropology - University of Washington
Tezozomoc
Campesinos del Sur Centro de Los Angeles
Popular names
Scientific name
English name
Comments (medicinal, culinary, mythic)
Nahuatl
Spanish
1. Ahuacatl
Aguacate
Persea americana
Avocado
A mainstay of Mexican cuisine; the Nahuatl name translates as “old
man’s testicles.” Avocado is used against dandruff, scabs,
menstrual cramps and hemorrhage, cough, dysentery, and gout.
2. Tsayaltsay
(Maya)
Alache
Anoda cristata L.
Spurred anoda
Treatment for coughs, hair loss, stomach inflammation, poor
appetite, fever, measles, and deafness. Was considered ‘famine’
food (if corn crops failed).
3. NA
Alfalfa
Medicago sativa
Alfalfa; buffalo herb;
Lucerne
Domesticated in Asia before 700 BCE and is thought to have
been cultivated first in Iran. From South America, alfalfa was first
brought to California during the Gold Rush. From California, the
crop spread to the Midwest and then further eastward. In Mexico, it
is used to make tea; it is used to treat hypertension, lower
cholesterol, improve circulation, and relief back pain.
4. NA
Artemisia
Artemisia ludoviciana
Silver wormwood
Use as a balm or salve to prevent scarring on skin injuries.
5. NA
Calendula
Calendula officinalis
Pot marigold
Flower petals give color to soups, custards, and rice; cookies;
vinegars; crafts. Also used as a balm for skin rashes, cuts, and
bruises.
6. Capolin
Capulin
Prunus serotina aff. Capuli
Chokecherry
An important native fruit-bearing tree of the Southwestern U.S. and
Mexico that is used to make jams, jellies, and wines. High in
Vitamins and anti-oxidants. The subspecies at South Central is is a
Mexican variety known and used in preHispanic times.
7. Chayohtli
Chayote
Sechium edule (Jacq.) Sw.
Chayote
A tender, perennial-rooted cucurbit, with climbing vines and leaves
resembling those of the cucumber. The light green, pear-shaped
fruit, which contains a single, flat edible seed, may weigh as much
as 2-3 pounds, but most often is from 6-12 ounces. Chayote is
served in many ways: creamed, buttered, fried, stuffed, baked,
frittered, boiled, mashed, pickled, in salads, or in pies.
Commercially, the biggest market appears to be for pickling.
Among Mexica, it was used to treat arteriosclerosis and renal
stones.
8. Cuauhtecomatl
Guaje
Crescentia sp.
Calabash
Fibers from the calabash tree can be made into twine and rope.
The hard wood is used to make tools and tool handles. The split
wood is woven into baskets. Gourd-like fruit is truly useful and is
used as a bowl or cup.
9. Tzilacayohtli
Chilacayote
Cucurbita ficifolia
Malabar gourd
(a.k.a. Fig-leaved
gourd)
A spreading vine of the Cucumber family, which trails for many
yards, for training up fences, over pergolas or left to range across
the ground. At South Central, it is commonly used as a shade
plant, spreading across home-built trellis; prepared as agua fresca.
10. Chipillin
Chipilin
Crotalaria guatemalensis
Crotalaraia longirostrata
Chipilin
A wild plant that has become the source of a much appreciated
green leafy vegetable in Central America; ranges from being a wild
plant to a domesticated one. It may be planted near the house,
protected if it appears in a field or simply harvested when it is found
in wild stands farther away; an attractive plant with deep green
foliage and beautiful yellow flowers; grows very quickly during the
rainy season from May to November and will produce edible leaves
for up to six years before it needs replacing.
11. Cuahmochitl
NA
Triadica sebifera L.
Small tallowtree
Also called the ‘popcorn tree’ because the spiral seed pods can be
fried and they taste and have a consistency similar to popcorn;
takes about seven years to produce; native of China?
12. Epazotl
Epazote
Chenopodium ambrosioides
Wormseed
In the Yucatan, indigenous groups have long used epazote
for intestinal parasites, asthma, excessive mucus, chorea (a type of
rheumatic fever that affects the brain) and other nervous afflictions;
In Mexico, for colic, increasing perspiration, menstrual disorders,
nerves, parasites, toothache, tumors, water retention, worms.
13. Etll
Frijol
Phaseolus vulgaris spp.
Bean
At South Central there are some dozen different varieties grown
including a Guatemalan bean variety whose flowers and not the
beans are consumed; Patolli is a game played with beans.
14. Xalxocotl
Guayaba
Psidium guajava L.
Guayaba
One of the most widely valued tropical fruits; high in vitamin C. The
fruit, when green and unripe, is an effective astringent and laxative.
Infusion of any parts of the shrub (flowers, leaves, twigs, peel of
the fruit) is a very effective treatment for diarrhia.
15. Coaxihuitl;
seeds are called
Ololiuhqui
Hiedra; bejicco
Rivea corybosa L. Hall. fil.*
Snake plant
Of the four main Mexican divinatory agents (along with picietl,
peyotl, teonanactl), this is the least known to the outside world; it is
perhaps the best known and most widely used among indigenous
people of Mexico.
16. Huazontle
Huazontle
Chenopodium berlandieri
Red Aztec spinach
Similar to lambsquarters; most common food use is eating the
tender young leaves which are used like Spinach.
17. Xitomatl
Jitomate
Lycopersicum esculentum
Tomato
Numerous landrace and heirloom varieties have been developed in
Mexico over the past several thousand years. Numerous medicinal
uses including treatment of headaches, symptoms of rheumatism
and influenza; may decrease heart rate (if accelerated).
18. Centli
Maíz
Zea mays L.
Maize, corn
One of the oldest domesticated cultivars; hundreds of varieties
have been developed in Mexico; at South Central there are at least
a dozen varieties of maize being grown including a green dent
variety from Oaxaca and the famous Hopi Blue variety.
19. NA
Malva
Malva sylvestris L.
Mallow; cheese flower
Common treatment for bronchitis, tonsillitis, gastroenteritis,
pleuresia (inflammation of the membrane that covers the lungs),
leucorrea (white discharge), inflammation of the cervix, inflamed
hemorrhoids, colitis, rectitis, intestinal infections, cutaneous
diseases, and to soften tumors and abscesses.
20. NA
Manzanillo
Chamaemelum nobile
Chamomile
Remedy for inflamed skin, cuts, grazes and other wounds. The
plant has been used with success on eczema, as an antiseptic and
as a tea is an effective sedative to aid restful sleep.
21. Costomatl
Miltomate;
Tomatillo
Physalis sp.
Husk tomato;
groundcherry
Another important preHispanic food crop; leaves are a diuretic.
22. Mohintli
Muicle, limalin,
Mohuite
Justicia spicigera
Mexican honeysuckle
Used to treat syphilis and to purify the blood. Also used for
headaches, kidney pain, anemia, dizziness, insomnia, and to
reduce inflammation from blunt force trauma.
23. NA
Nispero
Manilkara zapota
Sapodilla
A tropical American evergreen tree that can grow as high as 60
feet and bears fruit.
24. Nopalli
Nopal
Opuntia sp.
Cactus
Mexico has more species of cactus than any other country and
many varieties have long been consumed as food or medicine.
Nopales are also used as a permaculture landscape element and
in many areas of northern and central mexico are used as fencing.
25. Tlanapaquelite
Oja santa
Piper auritum
Rootbeer plant
Has anise-like smell; used to treat asthma; is prepared in soups as
an aromatic herb much likes rosemary; it is also used in tamales.
26. Tzitzicaztli
Ortiga menor
Urtica urens
(yerba de los ciegos)
Dwarf nettle
Eaten as a salad after being boiled; high vitamin content (A, C, K);
used to treat bruises.
27. Papalotl
Papalo
Porophyllum ruderale ssp.
papaloquelite;
yerba del venado
Butterfly plant
A pungent herb, it is usually eaten raw on a sandwich; sometimes
used in guacamole and salads; used fresh with soups and stews,
grilled meats, beans and salads, much like cilantro. Papalo is not
cooked, it is only used raw or added at the last moment.
28. Pipicha
Pepicha
(pipicha)
Porophyllum tagetoides
NA
Sunny annual with a flavor like cilantro but stronger. Used with
squash, corn, cuitlacoche.
29. NA
Perejil
Petroselinum crispum
Mexican parsley
Sun-loving biennial that reseeds easily. Mexican parsley is the
flat-leafed variety and is used in rice, stews, casseroles, and green
mole.
30. Yiauhtli
Pericón
(Yerba anise)
Tagetes lucida Cav.
Mexican tarragon
Leaves have a pleasant anise-like scent and mimic almost perfectly
the fragrance of tarragon. The leaves' taste is similar and very
intense; a favored ingredient for mole verde; smoked by the
Huichol for religious rituals.
31. NA
Plátano
Musa sapientum L.
Banana
Introduced to Mexico in 1537 at a plantation near Uruapan,
Michoacan. Can be used to ease the pain caused by a burn by
peeling it and placing a strip of the skin (inner side down) on the
burn; eaten in overripe state for constipation.
32. Pochotl
Pochote
Chorisia speciosa
Floss silk tree
It was used to make the fill for life jackets; seeds can be roasted
with the skin; the inner core is sweet like candy; among the Mixtecs
it is known as the “Tail of Mother Earth” (cola de madre tierra); in
Chalma, Mexico, Mixtecs tie the umbilical chord of a newborn to
the tree so that Mother Earth welcomes and cares for the child;
people may also place the objects of recently diseased relatives at
the base of the trunk or hang their shoes from the branches; tree is
associated with Cipactli (Crocodile) or Cuauahtli (Eagle).
33. Huauhtli
Quintoniles
Amaranthus hybridus
Green amaranth
Considered the sacred grain of the Mexica. In pre-Hispanic time,
the seeds were mixed with human blood and shaped it into dough
figures which were worshipped in the month of Panquetzaliztli. It is
a very high protein grain with essential amino acids (e.g. lysine).
34. NA
Romero
Suaeda sp.
Seepweed
No known medicinal uses; it is used as a seasoning (like salt).
35. Toloatzin
Toloache
Datura inoxia
Jimsonweed
Mexica name means “cabeza inclinada” (inclined head). Usually
prepared as a tea. The name comes from a combination of tolva,
which means “to swallow” from Nahuatl and 0-toloa-tzin = “It
swallows honorific.”
36. Xucul (Maya)
Verdolagas
Portulaca oleracea
Purslane; pigweed
The seed is more effectual than the leaves; used to cure dry
cough, shortness of breath, and vomiting; anti-bacterial and
antifungal properties. Also cooked like Spinach and is especially
significant as a Lenten food among Mexican Americans. Itzmiquilitl
in Nahuatl.
37. NA
Yerba mora
Carachicha
Solanum Frutescens A.
NA
Used in a tea as an anti-inflammatory, painkiller, and for treatment
of cirrhosis, hepatitis, and other liver ailments.