and had not nursed a baby for a quarter of a century, took it 
upon herself to nurse her infant nephew. So she started to take 
a tea made from ixbut leaves, three times a day — and took it 
for several months. Senorita Garcia was skeptical: upon re- 
quest, the mature, nursing aunt exposed her breast, which 
indeed contained an abundant supply of milk. 
The word ‘“‘ixbut’’ had its origin in the early Mayan lan- 
guages of the Pokom group (4) — then gradually spread to the 
quiche and mam tongues of Guatemala (5). ‘‘Ix’’ meant wom- 
an; while “‘but’’ stood for an increase in the flow or volume of 
water. Hence the implication that the plant ixbut increased the 
volume of liquid (i.e., milk) in women (4). 
Euphorbia lancifolia Sch/echtendal in Linnaea 7 (1832) 143. 
This herb was described by D. F. L. von Schlechtendal on 
the basis of material collected in a shady forest at Misantla, 
Mexico, approximately 60 miles northwest of Vera Cruz, in 
early 1829, by the German collector Christian Julius Wilhelm 
Schiede. 
The original description by Schlechtendal follows: 
36. E. lancifolia n. sp.; herbacea carnosula glabra alternifolia, 
inflorescentia dichotoma terminali. Caulis articulatus, articulis 
longitudine eximie diversis, glaberrimus, laevis, in statu sicco 
striis elevatis notatus teres. Folia alterna breviter petiolata late 
lanceolata aut rhombeo-lanceolata, basi acute apice vero acutis- 
sime acuminata, superficie obscurius viridi glabra, pagina infera 
dilutiori glaucescente pilisque minutis albis adpressis oculo ar- 
mato tantum in conspectum venientibus adspersa, integerrima, 
margine paululum inflexo, majora 3'4—3%4 p. longa, 17—19 1. in 
medio lata, petiolo 4—S lineari. Flores in apicibus caulis ter- 
minalem et ex ultimis axillis axillares cymas efformant 
dichotomas, paucifloras abortu florum v. ramulorum lateralium, 
inferiori in sua parte bracteis parvis lanceolatis acutis 1% lin. 
longis oppositis viduis saepe obsessas. Involucrum campanula- 
to-turbinatum 4-fidum, laciniis exterioribus inaequalibus (3 
majoribus quarta) erectis (an semper?) semirotundis inferne 
bilabiatis, labiis angustis lacinia brevioribus, laciniis interioribus 
alternis minoribus tenerioribus apice laciniatis. Stamina s. flores 
masculi more generis et flos centralis pedicellatus, dein elon- 
gatus nutans, ovario dense breviter piloso. Fructus non vidimus 
nec juniores. — In sylvis umbrosis Misantlae. Mart. 
A contemporary description, published by Standley and 
Steyermark in Flora of Guatemala (2) follows: 
279 
