Botanical Museum Leaflets 

 Spring 1983 



Vol. 29, No. 2 



THE ETHNOBOTANY OF THE DRESDEN CODEX 



WITH ESPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE 

 NARCOTIC NYMPHAEA AMPLA 



William A. Emboden, Ph.D., F.L.S.* 



ABSTRACT 



An analysis of the glyphs and pictorial evidence in the Dresden 

 Codex of the Maya provides an insight into the diversity of plants 

 employed by these ancient people. While maize is the preeminent 

 plant, being the essential food of the Maya, this codex reveals a host 

 of plants of medicinal value. There is a disproportionately large 

 representation of narcotic plants, if one assumes that inclusion is 

 based merely upon nutritive, decorative or emblematic value. The 

 white water lily of that region, Nymphaea amp/a DC, is especially 

 frequent in depictions. This inclusion is attributed to its narcotic 



properties (aporphine and quinolizidine alkaloids). The presenta- 

 tion of this codex by Thompson (1972) has served as a working 

 model with respect to organization and visual sources. Interpreta- 

 tions herein are not necessarily in accord with those of Thompson. 



Three authentic Maya Codices survive to this day: the Dresden, 

 the Madrid, and the Paris, each name being indicative of the city 

 in which they are to be found. In addition to these codices, we 

 have the Grolier Codex of unknown provenance first seen pub- 

 licly in 1971 and preserved in a private collection in New York. 

 Several scholars had expressed serious doubts concerning the 

 authenticity of the Grolier Codex based upon pictorial-ritual 

 aspects of the document as well as its physical properties, but a 

 radiocarbon analysis has produced a date of 1230 with a latitude 

 of 130 years' error. \ 



The Dresden Codex is of a ritualistic, divinatory and calendric 

 nature. The astronomy of Venus, while accurate, was used as a 

 means of predicting the fate of mankind. The glyphs and illustra- 

 tions are figured on a screen of continuing folded leaves, each 

 about 22 cm high and 1 1 cm wide; the whole manuscript is 6.70 



•Professor of Biology, California State University, Northridge; Research Fellow, Botani- 

 cal Museum, Harvard University. 



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