The Great Flora of Mexico and its Variety, Know it

Mexico, along with other countries that make up the Mesoamerican region, has a wide plant diversity. Of which some plants are known for their medicinal use, as an ornament and in the kitchen. For this reason, they are cultivated in different parts of the world, such as the species of the Dalhia genera and other species that have been crossed and have given rise to the creation of many cultivars or varieties. I invite you to learn a little more about the Flora of Mexico.

FLORA OF MEXICO

The Great Flora of Mexico

Mexico along with countries such as Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and the western regions of Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras are part of the Mesoamerica region. This region has very similar cultural traits, especially the food that is based on the corn plant and the triad that forms the milpa (corn, squash and beans). The great plant diversity of this region has been conditioned by its climate and diversity of ecological communities, as well as by its orography, favoring in turn that people know and domesticate a few species, to use them in various ways.

These plants have benefited human beings due to their usefulness as food, ornamental, and medicinal plants, and many have crossed the borders of Mexico and the Mesoamerican region. Some plants are less well known than others and yet they are the basis of important industries worldwide and some of these are also promising species.

Representative plant species

Due to its geography, Mexico is made up of plains, valleys, mountain ranges, in which different ecosystems were formed, such as low deciduous forests, mangroves, deserts, temperate and tropical forests. Coastal marine ecosystems formed by grasslands, underwater meadows. Ecosystems where a great floral diversity of the Mexican country originates. Among the most representative species of Mexico are named and described below.

Avocado

avocado (American persea) It is a fruit tree possibly native to the Mesoamerica region, of which wild populations can still be found today. Currently, its cultivation has spread to the different tropical regions of the planet. The Aztecs called it "ahuacatl" from which the name avocado may have been derived. The Chibcha Indians called it “cure”, a name that they currently use in western Colombia. Also, the Incas called it "avocado", a name they use in Popayán, Ecuador and Peru.

ahuehuete

This conifer the Ahuehuete (Taxodium huegelii) It is the national tree of the Republic of Mexico that can live more than 500 years, it belongs to the Cupresaceae family. It is a conifer that measures more than 40 meters in height, its trunk has between 2 to 14 meters in diameter, it has flattened linear leaves, with cones or slightly spherical cones. Actions of the Ahuehuete can be seen on the banks of the rivers and its roots grow submerged in the water.

FLORA OF MEXICO

The blue agave

This Blue Agave succulent plant (Agave tequilana), It belongs to the Agavaceae family, it is a plant that grows in desert ecosystems, it is used in the distillery industry to make tequila, a traditional alcoholic beverage from Mexico. Its leaves are lanceolate and arranged in rosettes, its flowers grow in a long inflorescence, which can grow up to 3 meters, in which hundreds of flowers grow, when flowering passes the plant dies.

handyman tree

It is a tree of the Malvaceae family, has evergreen leaves and is about 30 meters tall. The Handyman Tree (Chiranthodendron pentadactylon), It is popularly known by this name because its flowers resemble small hands, the color of its flowers is an intense red and its fruits are woody capsules. Its leaves and seeds are used to prepare febrifuge, analgesic and anti-inflammatory. As well as to prepare food, such as the use of its leaves to wrap tamales.

mahogany tree

the mahogany tree (Swietenia macrophylla), It is a species that grows in the humid Mexican jungles. It is a timber tree, highly appreciated worldwide for its resistant and beautiful wood. It has an average height of about 60 meters and its stem is 1,5 meters in diameter, its wood is reddish, its leaves are dark green and its flowers are yellowish green.

Ceiba

This large tree the Ceiba or ceibo (Ceiba pentandra), is native to the Mesoamerica region, is currently described within the Malvaceae family, until recently it belonged to the Bombacaceae family. It is a tree with deciduous leaves and a bulging trunk with thorns, it grows to around 70 meters in height, and 3 meters in diameter, it has compound leaves with 5 to 9 small lobes. Its flowers are white, its fruits are capsules and the seeds are covered by kapok fibers.

Dead flower

It is a herbaceous plant that calls it with the common names of Cempasúchil, Cempaxóchitl or flower of the dead (tagetes erecta), its leaves are compound and a chapter of orange-yellow to brick-red flowers. Since ancient times, the pre-Columbian indigenous people used this Cempasúchil plant, Cempaxóchitl or flower of the dead, in ceremonies to venerate the gods or the dead. It is used as a medicinal plant, dye and insecticide.

FLORA OF MEXICO

Chile

The Chile (Capsicum annum), It is a plant of the Solanaceae family widely used as food. Chile is a fruit with a spicy flavor used by tradition in Mexican culinary recipes, it is a shrub with evergreen leaves, simple, solitary or in pairs, it is a plant with a height between 80 to 100 centimeters high. Its fruits are elongated and also rounded berries, red to almost black in color, with many seeds. With Chile you can make sauces or Mexican moles, and it is considered cultural heritage of Oaxaca.

sapodilla

Chicozapote or chewing gum (Manilkara zapota), It is a tree native to Mexico, Central America and South America. It is an evergreen tree, with a height of about 30 meters, its trunk has a diameter of 1,25 meters. Its leaves are agglomerated and simple, with solitary axillary flowers, with a sweet aroma, its fruit is a berry, fleshy and with a rich sweet flavor, its fruits are edible. They also call it a gum tree, because of the latex it exudes, from this tree is where the chewing gum material comes from.

Copal

copal (Bursera copallifera) is a tree about 8 meters high, with a stem of gray resinous bark, with compound leaves, white flowers and red fruits. It is distributed in America and Europe. The resin is burned to perform spiritual cleansing, since ancient times by the Mexican indigenous people.

epazote

The Epazote plant (Dysphania ambrosioides) is an herb with a simple or branched stem, pubescent and prostrate, with simple leaves, green flowers and small size. It is an aromatic herb. It measures between 40 centimeters to 1 meter in height. It can be found in tropical deciduous forests, xerophytic scrub, oak forests, mixed oak and pine forests. It is distributed in almost the entire Mexican region as a wild and cultivated plant, due to its high capacity to spread.

The bean or caraota

Bean or caraota (Phaseolus), is a herbaceous plant native to Mexico for edible use. It is part of the basic diet of Mexicans, there are different cultivated varieties that produce grains of different colors, red, white, black or variegated or with spots. They are eaten cooked.

crawled

The Gateado or rum-rum tree (astronium graveolens), with a spotted trunk that looks like the skin of a tiger and hence its common name of "crawl", the outer bark of its trunk is gray that comes off leaving spots and between seeing its inner bark is yellow. It is a tree about 60 meters high and deciduous.

huanacaxtle

The Huanacaxtle tree (Enterolobium cyclocarpum) is about 45 meters tall and has a stem diameter of 3 meters, with a large crown. It is a tree for ornamental use and as timber. It has compound leaves and green flowers.

jicama

This herbaceous plant with a climbing habit called Jícama or Mexican turnip (Pachyrhizus erosus) grows up to about 5 meters long, with trifoliate leaves, its flowers are lilac or violet, its fruits are the typical pods of legumes. It has a tuberous root with a thickness of about 30 centimeters in diameter. Its exterior color is brown and inside it is white, it is edible and its taste is sweet.

The corn

This herbaceous plant called Corn (Zea mays), is native to Mexico and was cultivated by pre-Columbian indigenous people for 10.000 years. It is part of the diet of most American countries. Since it was brought to Europe by the conquerors, it is cultivated in the countries with warm climates in the world. It belongs to the Poaceae family, it is a dioecious plant, its female flowers are born on the short lateral stems and the male flowers on the apical parts. From the male flowers, ears of corn grow.

Mezquite

the mesquite (Prosopis spp.), is a small tree that can reach a height of about 9 meters. It is distributed in arid and semi-arid regions. Its trunk has stingers, it has compound and divided leaves, its flowers are yellow and arranged in a spike-like inflorescence. Its fruits are very nutritious and are eaten by both animals and people, they are consumed directly or in flour prepared sweetly.

FLORA OF MEXICO

The Nance

The Nance (Byrsonima crassifolia) is a small tree with an average size between 3 to 15 meters, its leaves are deciduous and simple. It is distributed throughout semi-arid regions. It has yellow flowers and red when ripe. Its fruits are yellow to orange in color and the fruit is eaten fresh or prepared in culinary dishes.

The Milpa and the Mexican Flora

Some of the first plants that originate in Mexico that later became known worldwide are the plant species that are part of the milpa. What is the triad of plants for consumption, which is part of the culture of Mesoamerica integrated by corn  (Zea mays), plant domesticated by indigenous Mexicans more than 10.000 years ago. According to reports at this time only in Mexico about 60 races have been counted. Along with beans, of which five edible species are named, namely: Phaseolus (with a multitude of cultivars), P. coccineus, P. acutifolius, Phaseolus lunatus, and P. Phaseolus polyanthus.

And another vegetable that is part of the milpa, are the species of pumpkins from which they are named, four species: Cucurbita pepo, C. ficifolia, C. argyrosperma y C. moschata. Other plant species native to Mexico are the so-called quintanils (Amaranthus spp.), the ashen quelites, the huauzontles (Chenopodium berlandieri subsp. nuttalliae), and the species known as epazote or paico (Dysphania ambrosioides), that the Jesuits made known in other South American countries for their medicinal properties.  

In addition to these plant species, the traditional milpa is also made up of plants from the Solanaceae family, whose fruits are used for the preparation of sauces, stews, and other dishes of the traditional diet of Mexico and Central America, among which chili peppers are named. (Capsicum annum y C. sinense), miltomate, green tomato or tomatillo (Physalis philadelphica) and the small cherry tomato or cherry tomato (Solanum there. cerasiform).

Uses of the Mexican Flora

Many of the plants that make up the Mexican flora have been used as medicinal, ornamental and edible since pre-Hispanic times. Among the edible plants, some are shown, such as: guavas or “xaxócotl (Psidium guajava), the black sapote (Diospyros digyna), the pápalos or “papaloquílitl” (Porophyllum spp.), which emblem condiments of the state of Guerrero and Morelos, the “guaje” or “uaxin” (lucaena spp.), plums or “xócotl” (spondias spp.), the nanches (byrsonima spp.), custard apples (annona cherimola) and soursop (Annona muricata).

Other representative plant species of the Mexican flora of edible and artisanal importance have been known since before the Spanish conquest. Many of these were brought to Europe by the conquerors and are currently used for their nutraceutical properties, among which are chias, "chian" or "chiyan", which is the Nahuatl way of referring to small seeds. Words used to refer to some plants of the Lamiaceae family, which have small seeds, which, when moistened, hydrate the mucilage that surrounds them and they appear viscous.

These species in ancient times were widely used as foodstuffs throughout the Mesoamerican region, specifically the species that are known these days as "chia pinta" or "chia blanca" (Sage) or the “black or white chian” (Hyptis suaveolens), These were consumed prepared in atole, pinoles or as a non-alcoholic drink called bat, as tamales or the seeds were toasted and put to germinate. They were acquired through tribute.

Among the plants that have medicinal use, some can be named with which they prepare infusions, and are even the main part of patent medicines recognized worldwide for their effectiveness, such as "cuachalalate" (julia adstringens), of great value demonstrated in the treatment of gastritis. Other plants used as medicinal are the so-called Brazilwood or “tlahcuilolquáuitl2 (Haematoxylum brasiletto) and the toloache or “tolohuaxíhuitl” (Datura spp.), of this genus 14 Mexican species have been classified, the most used being D. stramonium.

The D. stramonium, It is a species already established as medicinal and used as a poultice in the Cruz-Badiano Codex. In the same way it is referred to in the Florentine Codex, in the latter the exception is made that this plant intoxicates and that it can cause irreparable damage to people who consume it, because they permanently go crazy, for this reason its use is very delicate and it is emphasized that It should always be used externally and never ingested.

An important plant for Mexicans and used as an ornamental and for rituals is the cempasúchil or “cempoalxóchitl”, a Nahuatl name that means “twenty flowers” ​​(tagetes erecta), Mexicans use it to honor their dead during the celebrations of the Day of the Dead (November 1 and 2), highlighting the yellow of its flowers. Tagetes is used as an ornamental in other parts of the world.

Another plant of ornamental importance is the plumeria rubra, Known by most by its common name Flor de Mayo, it has become popular to decorate gardens due to the different colors of its flowers: red, yellow, white and pink. Since pre-Hispanic times, garlands have been made with their flowers, to honor important lords, today in Hawaii they make garlands with poppy flowers or flor de mayor to receive visitors to the island.

The various species of orchids are also plants of the Mexican flora, worth caring for and enjoying, "plants worth seeing" as Francisco Hernández (protomedic of Felipe II) pointed out, as well as the dieguitos or tzacuxochitl, in which several species of Laelia, like species  laelia speciosa, y L. autumnalis, In addition to being ornamental, they were also used as glue or adhesive in feather art and also to fix plant pigments on clothing.  Another genus of orchid can be named as the stanhopea spp., which are known as bulls or coatzontecoxóchitl, with chocolate and mint aroma.

Likewise, in these descriptions the tuberose or omixóchitl (Polianthes tuberosa), that intoxicates with its sweet aroma, widely used in Mexico in churches and for this reason its fragrance is closely associated with the smell of ecclesiastical temples or wakes. It is a plant cultivated for cut flowers, due to the duration of its flowers and its aroma. In Hawaii, its flowers are also used to make garlands or flower necklaces for visitors.

On Christmas dates, poinsettias or cuetlaxóchitl (Euphorbia pulcherrima), called in English poinsettia, widely cultivated by the Californian horticultural industry. Last but not least, the National Flower of Mexico, the Dahlias, called by the Aztecs in Nahuatl as atlcotlixochitl, is native to Mexico. The dahlia or dahlia is a flower much admired for its ornamental beauty. In many times large sums of money have been paid to buy the seeds of the most beautiful varieties. Being the national flower of this country, few know its history and importance.

I invite you to continue knowing the wonderful nature and how to take care of it, reading the following posts:


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