QUIROGA: a MEXICAN MUNICIPIO — BRAND 



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merchants, and through general questioning, it 

 appears that of the various classic types or sub- 

 species of maize only dent and flint are cul- 

 tivated in the Quiroga area. These two types 

 intergrade so that the maize kernels are dent, semi- 

 dent, and dentless flint. In general, all of the 

 maize falls into the type recently named Mexican 

 Pyramidal. The majority of the kernels are 

 dented and tapering ("pointed"), and next in 

 number are the kernels which are rounded and 

 semidented. There are five major color types 

 and various gradations or blends (hybrids). 

 The most common type is j'ellow maize {maiz 

 amarillo), also known as native maize {maiz 

 criollo), which grades imperceptibly uito the 

 second type called maiz bianco or white maize. 

 Actually these two color types represent the 

 extremes of color variation within one general 

 type, and many of the farmers recognize this 

 fact and refer to the same maize by all three 

 names listed previously. A subtype with a 

 smaller kernel which is commonly planted at the 

 higher elevations is known as maiz amarillo 

 delgado. This may represent an introduced strain 

 from the high valley of Toluca, or it may be 

 merely a locally selected variant. The above 

 type or types constitute at least four-fifths of the 

 maize planted in the area. A third color type, 

 maiz Colorado or red maize, appears to be merely 

 a color mutant of the maiz criollo. The fourth 

 color type, maiz priefo or black maize (actually a 

 blue to purplish black), is definitely distinct from 

 the previous types in having a majority of its 

 kernels rounded and semident, and in containing 

 a higher sugar content in its stalks. Possibly 

 this maize is descended from the prized strain 

 whence the ancient Tarascans obtamed a sweet 

 juice or sap which was boiled down to sirup and 

 also converted into a fermented drink (the pulque 

 de tluolli of the Mexicans). Alaiz prieto is com- 

 paratively rare in Quiroga, although we observed 

 quite a few plants of this type in the higher fields 

 of Santa Fe on the slopes of Tzirate. Probably 

 the cooler gi'owing conditions increase the sugar 

 content of the stalks. The last color type is 

 nothing but a mixture of the previous types which 

 gives rise to maiz pinto, which has two or more 

 colors represented in the kernels of one ear. 

 From some sampling it appears that the kernels 

 are arranged in from 8 to 20 rows, with the modal 

 number being 12 or 14. The plants vary from 1 



to 4 meters in height, the lesser heights apparently 

 representing merely inferior growing conditions. 

 It is not possible, from the early sixteenth-century 

 records, to determine what were the indigenous 

 types of maize, since maize was described only 

 in terms of colors. There were reported to be 

 colored (Colorado could mean merely red, or it 

 could refer to any intense or brilliant color such 

 as black, red, and yellow), white, and spotted 

 (pinto) types. The use of the term pinto would 

 imply that more colore were represented than 

 merely white and red. Tradition, as well as the 

 more ceremonial usage of huauhtli (pari) grains, 

 indicates that the Tarascans liad the cultivated 

 amaranths before they acquired maize. Possibly 

 the ancestral Tarascans were already in the 

 Michoacan area when they first acquii'ed maize, 

 but it is equally possible that they found maize 

 already being cultivated when they immigrated 

 from their unknown homeland. There are a 

 number of fascinating identities and similarities 

 between the prehistoric cultures of southwestern 

 Mexico and those of the northwestern portion 

 of the so-called Incan Empire (prior to the 

 development of this empire), among which is the 

 similarity of the Quechua and Tarascan words for 

 maize (sari and tsiri). Although the origin of 

 dent maize is not known, and the role of teosinte 

 has been challenged by Mangelsdorf and Reeves 

 (1939), the region of upland valleys from Jalisco to 

 Oaxaca is still as good a candidate for origin- 

 area as any. In this coimection the prevalence 

 of teosinte in the Pdtzcuaro Basin is of interest. 

 Teosinte (Euchlaena mexicana Schrad.) is quite 

 common in the lowlands around Quiroga, prin- 

 cipally in the fields and at the margin of fields 

 northwest and west of the Cerro Huarapo, near 

 La Tep6ricua, and in the fields above the Cerro 

 de La Cruz. It was so abimdant near the Cerro 

 Huarapo in December of 1945 that we were able 

 to collect about a half bushel of kernels in less 

 than 2 hours. Teosinte is known locally as wild 

 maize (maiz silvestre), dog's foot maize (hui- 

 chuantziri) , and "compacted" maize (maiz cundaz, 

 tzicundd, atsiri-cundaz, tsir-cundaz) . The latter 

 term is derived from cundare (united) because the 

 kernels are packed together instead of being on a 

 cob. Teosinte is not purposely cultivated, and 

 is useful only for fodder, since the kernels are so 

 hard that they cannot be ground in the ordinary 

 fashion but must be "popped" or exploded by heat. 



