THE LAND 



33 



Indians do not utilize them in a practical way. 

 Such smaller forms of animal life as worms and 

 grubs and weevils are, in their relations to the 

 Indians, only detrimental. 



WILD FLORA 



Much more important in Indian life than the 

 fauna are the tlu-ee hundred trees and plants, 

 most wild, some semicultivated, described as 

 growing in Panajachel. I have information on 

 uses of about 200 of these. In the discussion 

 which follows, they are divided roughly into classes 

 such as trees, bushes, herbs, etc. 



Although trees are often planted in particular 

 places, either for shade or fences, they are almost 

 never cared for. Since the same may be said in 

 some degree of fruit trees, it is not easy (or im- 

 portant) to distinguish the wild from the culti- 

 vated, especially since shade trees in coffee fields 

 serve a purpose clearly commercial. 



At least 10 different trees furnish posts and 

 poles for building, the hardwoods guachipilin and 

 oak preferred. Oak is said to be the best firewood, 

 but almost all are equally common. Fruit trees, 

 especially those standing at crossroads, are felled 

 supposedly only at the risk of one's life, and hence 

 are rarely used in building, and only the branches 

 are commonly used in the fire. Some woods are 

 not used for firewood for reasons that may not be 

 sound: jiote (madrone) wood when burned gives 

 a sickness of the same Spanish name, which is 

 the word for mange; guachijnlin is too hard to 

 split; to burn wood of trees that yield fruit in the 

 rainy season causes the fruit to be wormy. But 

 since the Indians normally cut and gather all the 

 firewood they need, and rarely if ever import any, 

 it must be supposed that their reasoning, if false, 

 is not economically harmful. 



The uses of trees in agriculture are many. 

 Ilamo, eucalyptus, and silk-oak trees (as well as 

 bananas) are planted for shade in the coffee fields ; 

 rotted leaves of the coffee bushes are the most 

 common fertilizer in the vegetable gardens; wil- 

 low, ilamo, and silk-oak branches and certain 

 large leaves such as banana are used to cover 

 newly planted seeds to shade them while they 

 germinate; and willow is planted along the river 

 edge to prevent erosion, and around springs to 

 keep them from drjang up. From guachipilin 

 and oak, taxisco, avocado, and citrus come the 

 hafts of iron tools as well as wedges, stakes. 



harvesting nails, and mortars. Cudgels (com- 

 monly coral and citrus branches) may be chosen 

 poorly because a hardwood supposedly becomes 

 soft and a softwood hard in dealing with super- 

 natural beings. Fences are made from jocote 

 (Spanish plum) and the very thorny coyol 

 branches; but small trees (especially madrone, 

 coral, yucca, and amate), supposed never to die, 

 are often planted for the purpose. Fiesta deco- 

 rations for houses, streets, and saints come mostly 

 from local trees — pine (needles, branches), cypress 

 (branches), silk-oak (flowers), citrus fruits (flow- 

 ers, leaves, fruit), coyol (branches), and pacaya 

 (leaves) — and plants. Parts of trees are also used 

 as children's toA's (e. g., soapseed and paterna 

 seeds, acorns, coral flowers, castor leaves) and to 

 make toys (e. g., guava wood for horns, and 

 citrus-fruit branches for slingshots). 



Trees furnish very little of the Indians' food. 

 Salable fruit is usually sold and varieties not inter- 

 esting enough to be marketable are usually left 

 to rot. Although aware that certain branches, 

 flowers, seeds, and fruit of local trees are used in 

 cooking elsewhere, Panajachel Indians make 

 almost no use of them. On the other hand, many 

 parts of trees are used in the preparation of medi- 

 cines; for examples may be mentioned pine pitch; 

 "buzzard tree," nance, and coral bark; madrone 

 bark and gum; amate "milk"; guave, eucalyptus, 

 and nogal leaves; citrus-fruit leaves, juice, and 

 skins; and avocado and anona seeds. 



The following miscellany, finally, will give an 

 idea of the variety of uses of parts of trees. Yucca 

 leaves and capulin bark are substitutes for leather, 

 and the fibers of the first are used for tying; a soap 

 is taken from the soapseed tree; pine pitch is used 

 to repair canoes; tuna-\e&i gum is mixed with the 

 lime to make whitewash stick; thorny tuna leaves 

 are placed in paths to keep people and animals 

 out; the oil of cross-sapodilla seeds is used as a 

 hairdress by some men; silk-oak gum is used as 

 paste in kite making; taxisco branches are used as 

 hangei-s in the house; the toronja is used cere- 

 monially as a candle holder; coral seeds are used 

 by diviners; and so on. 



Yet, certainly, the Indians do not make full use 

 of their trees. For example, the cajete tree is 

 used in other places to make boxes; but the Pana- 

 jachelcnos do not know how. Nor do the local 

 Indians engage in lumbering; they use the lumber 

 undressed for their houses, and if they need boards 



