144 
the word ixcdco, used in Southwest Guatemala today. 
Bukasov reported brown cotton only in Chiapas, though 
Donde is cited as mentioning it in Yucatan (cancacu) and 
Pittier, in Costa Rica (tecolote). 
Cotton is imported for manufacture in Guatemala,** mainly 
from Nicaragua and the United States. 
NATIVE HIGHLAND FRUIT TREES 
A number of fruit trees are mentioned and described 
among the useful plants of the Lowlands (Appendix 3). 
It is there that many of these plants are best developed and 
most abundant, as, for example, papaya, matasano, and 
injerto which are found below elevations about equal to that 
of Lake Atitlan (1,550 m.). Certain native fruits attain their 
best development between about 1,500 and 2,200 m. Out- 
standing among these are the avocado and jocote (“Spanish 
plum,” Spondias purpurea). 
Avocado (aguacate, Persea americana).—The so-called 
“Guatemala” variety of avocado with rough, thick, brittle 
skin, is the only one grown,” the trees being abundant among 
all the Lake communities. Cultivation is desultory, however, 
and plants spring from castaway seeds. There is room for 
tremendous improvement by grafting, which is not practiced. 
Avocados generally reach the markets in quantity, almost 
all the year round perhaps (least abundant during the late 
rainy season). They are eaten by man and beast (especially 
dogs) and they go in great numbers to piedmont plazas. 
Avocados probably provided the main source of fat to 
the Indians of pre-Columbian Mexico and Central America, 
playing the role of the olive in the Old World. Aguacate 
is from the Nahuatl, aguacatl (‘testicle’). “Avocado” may 
25 The large electric mill at Cantel imports about one-half the cotton 
used, 35 percent from Nicaragua and 15 percent from the United States 
(approximate figures for 1936). (See p. 66.) 
236 The “Antillean,’’ smooth-skinned variety is confined to the Coastal 
Plain below 1,000 m. (3,280 ft.), and the ‘‘Mexican” variety is grown 
only in the Departamentos of Sacatepequez and Chimaltenango, accord- 
ing to the Anuario del Servicio Technico, 1931, p. 84. The rough- 
skinned avocado is probably the one from which the name “alligator 
pear,” commonly applied in the southeastern United States, was derived, 
from its resemblence to the hide of an alligator. 
INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 4 
be a corruption of aguacate, but it probably derives from 
bocado (Spanish, “appetizer”), for it is widely used today 
as a spread (“guacamole”) like butter, mashed with onions 
and served on crackers as hors d’oeuvres. 
“Spanish plum” or ciruela (jocote, Spondias spp.).— 
Since the jocotes (Mexico, “ciruelas’’) are little known north 
of the Rio Grande, and since the varieties have not been 
described in detail in botanical literature, more space will be 
devoted here to this fruit than to the more familiar avocado. 
Though sometimes called “Spanish plum,” the jocote is 
neither Spanish nor a plum. 
Jocotes, generally quite acid (Nahuatl, jocoti=“sour 
fruit”), are much liked by the Indians. The newcomer to 
Guatemala during the early dry season is impressed with the 
great baskets of plumlike yellow and red fruits (pl. 19, c) 
that fill the markets, and the large, unfamiliar seeds, yel- 
lowish and fibrous, that cover the ground of the plaza; for 
the Indians eat them by the hundred in the market (pl. 
21, a). 
The tree is low, spreading and much-branched, often 
gnarled and twisted, having small, oval leaves somewhat like 
those of a locust, and distinctly deciduous habit. 
At Panajachel and neighboring centers, I noted the varie- 
ties of jocotes, in 1936, described in table 8. 
Except for mico, these grow in most of the Lake villages, 
especially on the north side. Distribution and relative abund- 
ance of varieties in the Lake region, have been discussed 
briefly in an earlier section. 
At Pueblo Nuevo, in the boca costa of Retalhuleu, it was 
said that the principal jocotes were corona, agosto (costeno), 
martenica, and pascua, all red varieties, with yellow types 
lacking. Here I was told that the Indians did not show so 
much interest in them as they do in the Highlands. Ladinos 
said they made jelly of jocotes. 
Both Spondias and Persea (Guatemala variety) are prob- 
ably native to Central America, perhaps Guatemala. They 
were described by Oviedo in the West Indies, in the early 
16th century. Nicaragua was cited as a region where special 
care was taken in the cultivation of avocados, as in the case 
of beans (Oviedo, 1851-55, vol. 1, p. 353). 
TABLE 8.—Ilarieties of jocotes observed in Guatemala in 1936 (illustrated wm pl. 19, c) 
= Season of 
Name Description of tree Length and description of fruit harvest How consumed 
1. Petapa (amarillo) ....... Trunk tortuous, much-branched. .|1%4 in.; slightly oblong; yellow to orange; shiny, | Sept.-Jan. | Raw, boiled, dried. 
| smooth, little anated: rather acid taste. 
BMAGOTOTA ales + icsisters.s s0s255/9°9.5 Trunk tortuous, much-branched. .| 134 in.; oblong; red-orange to red; 5-7 “warts” | Sept.—-Dec. | Raw (preferred va- 
; : on end; sweetest variety, only slightly acid. riety for eating). 
SiiChicha: ciswesiecivie e's 6. eee Trunk tortuous, much-branched..| 134 in.; oblong; yellow-orange; thick skin, | Sept.—Feb. | Raw, dried, fer- 
rough, spotted; very acid. mented to make 
chicha beer. 
AUePasctias, sncineies boc 38ers Trunk tortuous, much-branched..| 1% in.; oblong; red (lighter than No. 2) | Oct.—Mar. | Raw. 
stay, warty; sweet, but more acid than 
INO. 2. 
BUsatria li tOwesicrera-sfereisrsisteis crave Fairly tall, straight trunk..... 1 in.; oblong; yellow; acid, flavor, between Nos. | Sept._Jan. | Mostly cooked, also 
: 1 and 3. raw and dried. 
GyRioy Grande asaw sic ce sais Lower than No. 5; straighter|1!4 in.; oblong; yellow; sweetest of. yellow | Oct.-Feb. | Raw, cooked, dried. 
than 1-4. varieties. 
Mame LOG AUDI ra emioins sient oie) cre wists lore eisiniayoinlovejervileterclete7aaenctene 1 in.; slightly oblong; red, rather acid...... Aug.-Nov. | Raw, often rather 
green (much 
p liked). é 
Spe ROS STEAM arate: cfeieie: sincere: [tll wys.6-ayeiws'yaqretsi odo aw cytes cccie 1 in.; narrow; oblong; yellow, very acid..... Oct.-Feb. | Little eaten, mainly 
used for chicha 
(a fermented 
= drink). 
‘9, Mico® (agosto, scosteno) esis. | sic fete cvis-ereie ce c.sb.0e ce ceiccieee 1 in.; marrow; oblong; red, rather acid...... Aug.—Nov. es Gitte eaten, 
inferior). 
1This may be jobo (Spondias lutea or mombin) which does not occur in the Lake Atitlan region, as 1,200 m, (3,937 ft.) is about its upper 
limit. It is common in the Lowlands, however. 
