Traditional Medicine Among the Nahua: Contemporary and Ancient Medicinal Plants

Discussion (continued)

Among the Aztecs (Hernández 1942 [1572]) the place where the plant grows and/or is found is a very important descriptor. This information includes the soil or terrain where the plant is found ("it is from hilly places" [Hernández 1942 [1572]:194], "it is born…in swampy places" [Hernández 1942 [1572]:69], or "it grows in the forest" [Sahagún 1963:136]), the climate of that area ("it is born in temperate places" [Hernández 1942 [1572]:60]), or whether the location is domesticated or not ("in flat, rural, and cultivated places" [Hernández 1942 [1572]:211]). These factors regarding the location of the plants are important in determining their identification and taxonomy. Healing specialists know where plants are found and use that knowledge to determine if a plant is indeed the one sought as well as its medicinal properties.

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The present-day Nahua taxonomy for medicinal plants consists of four interrelated parts: (1) the type of plant it is, (2) its organoleptic property (taste, smell, and texture), (3) its temporal quality (hot, cold), and (4) its shape. Each of these factors direct the healing specialist's selection of a particular plant.

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Plants are divided into different types: if they are epiphytes they are called cuamekatl, herbaceous plants are xihuitl, woody plants or trees are cuahuitl, if it is an edible weed then it is called kilitl, and xochitl are identified by their flowers and hence are ornamentals. Only a few of the plants collected have the term pajtli (cure) in their name or taxonomical identification, even though the plant itself might be considered a xihuitl or other type of plant (Bye 2000). Plants can also be identified by the types of fruits they produce, for instance a suffix of xilotl indicates a tender fruit (such as a banana, called cuaxilotl; see Figure 13), while xocotl indicates a more acidic type of fruit (such as plum, xalxocotl, or orange, alaxox). A plant that produces a tuber will have the denomination of iteso, though this might not be apparent from the plant's name, such as caxtilanchile, which is in the Zingiberaceae family. Finally, a reed- or cane-like plant will be classified as an acatl (see Figure 15 and Figure 16, above; and Figure 17, Figure 18, and Figure 19, below).

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