Popenoe and Pachano: The Capulin 



S3 



THE SWEET CHERRY OF THE INDIES 



The "Capulin, seu Ceraso dulci Indica," 

 (Capulin, or sweet cherry of the Indies) as 

 figured in the work of Francisco Hernandez, 

 written about 1575, and published in 1651. 

 Hernandez praised the tree highly, both for its 

 medicinal virtues and for its edible fruits; many 

 people competent to voice an opinion on such 

 matters, he says, considered the latter by no 

 means inferior to the cherries of Spain. (Fig. 

 1.) 



demands a cool, subtropical climate, 

 such as that found at elevations be- 

 tween 4,000 and 10,000 feet. It is 

 abundant, at the present day, in and 

 about the Valley of Mexico, and the 

 fruit is often sold in the markets of the 

 City. Throughout the country it is 

 known, so far as we have been able to 

 ascertain, under the Aztec or Nahuatl 

 name capulin ; but it is reasonable to 



AN AZTEC HIEROGLYPH 



The name Capulapan (a town in Mexico) 

 as it was expressed in the picture writing of the 

 Aztecs. The word is composed of two elements 

 (above) a capulin tree, and (below) a canal 

 (apantli) filled with water. The latter element 

 gives the termination apan. The name may 

 have been given to a place where there were 

 capulin trees and water, or the picture may 

 have been an attempt to represent phonetically 

 the name Calpidapan. The trunk of the highly 

 conventionalized tree was painted in brown, 

 the leaves at the ends of the three branches 

 green, and the clusters of fruits bright red. 

 (Fig. 2.) 



believe that there are distinct names for 

 it in some of the other indigenous lan- 

 guages of Mexico. 



In Guatemala the tree occurs, as in 

 Mexico, throughout the highlands gen- 

 erally, — sometimes as a semi-culti- 

 vated plant, sometimes as a wild spe- 

 cies, or at least having the appearance 

 of one. Its zone of cultivation in this 

 country lies between 4,000 and 9,000 

 feet, and most of the trees are found 

 in the region known as Los Altos, 

 between Guatemala City and Quezal- 

 tenango. The Kiche Indians who 

 live near the latter city know the 

 fruit as tup, and distinguish two varie- 

 ties, the ek-i-tup (red tup) and the 

 sak-i-kip (white tup), the latter having 

 fruits of much lighter color than the 

 former. The presence of a name for 

 this fruit in the Kiche language argues 

 an ancient cultivation in the Guate- 

 malan highlands. 



