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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 1 1 



charcoal mentioned previously. Gall-apples, which 

 develop on oaks and madronos, are used a little in 

 tanning and formerly were employed in making 

 inlv. Madrono {Arbutus spp.) of four species is 

 used for some farm tools, and there is a growing 

 use of Arbutus xalapensis H. B. K., known locally 

 as madrono and pananks, in the bowls, vases, toys, 

 and other items turned out in several Quiroga 

 shops. The easily worked wood of jaboncillo or 

 shapu (Clethra mexicana DC.) is also used some- 

 what in the wood-turning shops. There was re- 

 ported, but we were not able to confirm, the carv- 

 ing of masks from the wood of the colorln or puren- 

 checua {Erythrina HabeUvformis Kearney), which is 

 semicultivated as an ornamental in the lowland. 



WILD FOOD PLANTS 



Next in importance after wood is the collection 

 of wild food plants. The most important of these 

 are the fruits collected from the tejocote and capu- 

 lln, which are cultivated also ; and following these 

 in value are the wild magueyes for roasting, and 

 the fruits of the wild cacti. The green, wliite, and 

 sometimes red-colored acid tunas (known as joco- 

 nostles) of Opuntia juliginosa Griffiths, Opuntia im- 

 bricata (Haw.) DC. and other opuntias, gathered 

 principally from July to December, are eaten raw, 

 used for flavoring soups, and cooked in stews. 

 However, the consumption of joconostles is minor 

 in Quiroga as compared with the drier regions to 

 the north and east. Among other wild fruits are 

 grapes, currants, gooseberries, blackberries, straw- 

 berries, and elderberries, but these fruits com- 

 monly are gathered incidentally by batelleros, lena- 

 dores, carboneros and others with business in the 

 woods of the highlands, and by children in the 

 ranchos. A considerable number of native wild 

 and introduced escaped plants are collected for pot 

 greens and vegetables. Under the terms guelites 

 and bledos are collected not only amaranths and 

 chenopods, but a number of plants which we were 

 not able to identify. The introduced wild mustard 

 and wild radish are often used for greens, as are 

 native and introduced purslane and dandelion. 

 Various members of the mint, parsley, laurel, and 

 composite families are used in flavoring foods. On 

 occasion wild beans {Canavalia and Phaseolus) are 

 gathered. Several edible roots and bulbs are col- 

 lected which include Dioscorea {camote del cerro), 

 Phaseolus (Jlcama del cerro), Allium (surups), 

 Dahlia (charahuasca) , etc. There is some gather- 



ing of water cresses and the edible seeds and root- 

 stocks of waterlilies {Nymphaea) . Several mush- 

 rooms are eaten on occasion. Of considerable im- 

 portance are the fruits (some eaten raw, others 

 cooked as vegetables) of several solanums, espe- 

 cially one known as pichecuas, which is gathered 

 from August to November; the ucuares, which 

 seems to be a Valeriana, and which is gathered 

 from February to June; and the fruits of several 

 species of Gonolobus and Asclepias, known as tala- 

 yotes and chicuipos, which are gathered from August 

 to December when not quite ripe and are cooked 

 and eaten like young pumpkins. Also, the fruit 

 of a wild Rhus, which resembles om* lemon-berry 

 and is caUed limita, is gathered in June and July. 

 Although the collection and use of wild plants 

 for medicinal purposes is still of considerable im- 

 portance in the area, we did not have the time to 

 go into this matter thoroughly. Apparently there 

 are hundreds of plants which are widely known and 

 used for a great number of ailments, in addition 

 to the medicinal herbs known only to the profes- 

 sional herb doctors. It seemed that almost every 

 other plant we collected or asked about had some 

 use. Among the more famous or common medic- 

 inal plants are the following: An Aristolochia (yerba 

 del Indio, guaco, pehuame) used for animal bites, 

 stomach aches, etc.; a number of yerbas del golpe 

 (Allionia, Oenothera, etc.) used in poultices and 

 teas for bruises and inflammations; a Begonia and 

 the chupire {Euphorbia calyculata H. B. K.) used 

 for venereal diseases ; tabardillo or cuiniqui-cuman- 

 chicua {Piqueria trinervia Cav.) used for fevers; 

 a number of daturas and nicotianas with many 

 uses; and a long list of plants made into teas as 

 diuretics, for coHc, for constipation, for colds and 

 chest complaints, etc., among which are ferns 

 {Adiantum and Polypodium) , nettles {Urtica), 

 legumes {Lupinus, etc.), mints of several genera, 

 Lantana, Buddleia, Anoda, Loeselia, Smilax, Cle- 

 matis, Eupatorium, Gnaphalium, Tagetes, Bidens, 

 etc., etc. The most common forms of application 

 are in teas and poultices. There should be men- 

 tioned here the most famous medicine to come out 

 of the New World in the sixteenth centmy (besides 

 tobacco), namely the purgative raiz de Michoacdn 

 or "root of Michoacan." Hundreds of pages have 

 been written since the days of Monardes and Her- 

 nandez attempting to identify this plant. From 

 aU the available information it seems to belong 

 either to the Apocynaceae, Asclepiadaceae, or the 



