e. Guatemalan Highlands. . . . . . . . 8 species 
Amaranthus cruentus Persea americana (Guatemalan race) 
Casimiroa Sapota Phaseolus coccineus 
Crotalaria longirostrata P. lunatus 
Dahlia Lehmannii Sechium edule 
2. Andean Area. .......... . . 6 Species 
Annona Cherimolia Lycopersicon esculentum (or cultivated 
independently in Mexico) 
Chenopodium Nuttalliae Nicotiana rustica 
Gossypium hirsutum N. Tabacum 
3. Lowland South American (Brazil-Paraguay) Region 
3 species 
Ananas comosus 
Arachis hypogaea (post-Columbian in Mexico?) 
Manihot esculenta 
4, Plants which are at present difficult to assign to any 
of the above areas, with the author’s guesses in paren- 
theses .......... =... . . . 8 Species 
Bixa Orellana Ipomoea Batatas 
Canavalia ensiformis (Mex.) Lagenaria siceraria (via Andean 
Capsicum annuum region?) 
C. frutescens (Mex.) Psidium Guajava (Andean?) 
Cucurbita ficifolia 
From the above lists it will be seen that over eighty 
species of plants are considered as having been cultivated 
in Mexico before Kuropean contact. Some may think 
this number to be excessive; it must be recalled, how- 
ever, that agriculture was developed to a high degree in 
parts of Middle America and that the ecology of the area 
is conducive to a great variety of crop plants. In almost 
all instances, I believe, a very good case can be made for 
considering these plants to have been cultivated in pre- 
Columbian Mexico. The greater number are indigenous 
either to Mexico or to adjacent areas. Some of the in- 
digenous plants are of secondary importance, but the list 
also includes plants of such prominence as maize, beans, 
agave, avocado, and species of amaranth and squash. Six 
species, including cotton and tobacco, are believed to 
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