Book Explanation

Las Plantas Medicinales de Tihosuco, Quintana Roo, MÈxico

A book compiled by M.J.Clark, the Caste War Museum in Tihosuco and the Programa Etnoflora Yucatanense of the Faculty of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Autonomous University of Yucatan (November 1999).

The book contains 1 cover page, 15 prefacing pages, 80 pages of main text including 9 pages of indices and 10 drawings. Currently, the majority of the book is written in Spanish.

Contents (English translations are given within parenthesis'):

PresentaciÛn (Introduction)
Agradecimientos (Acknowledgements)
Contenido (Contents)
Prologo (Forward)
Forward
U ets'eb kuch jump'Èel pak'al nikte' ti' ts'akal xiwo'ob tu kuuchil sukbenilo'ob yaltanba, tu kaajil Jo'tsuk, Quintana Roo, MÈxico (as [xii])
El establecimiento de un JardÌn Bot·nico de Plantas Medicinales en el 'Museo de la Guerra de Castas', Tihosuco, Quintana Roo, MÈxico (as [xii])
The establishment of a Botanical Garden for Medicinal Plants in the 'Museo de la Guerra de Castas', Tihosuco, Quintana Roo, MÈxico
ExplicaciÛn de los textos siguientes (Explanation of the following text)
Las plantas medicinales de Tihosuco (The medicinal plants of Tihosuco)
Õndice de las enfermedades que curan las plantas (Index of diseases cured by the herbs)
Õndice de los nombres Maya y com™n de las plantas (Index of Maya and common plant names)
Lista floristica (Floristic list)

All the plants and their uses mentioned within the project have been included in this book. Many of the plants have been used in combination with others. For this reason, each plant has been given a reference number to facilitate the use of the book. They are not listed in any particular order. The text for every plant is arranged firstly by giving information about the plant, which is then followed by a table showing its uses and preparation.

An example follows, which has been translated into English, to demonstrate the layout of the text:

(1) Xoolte' xnuk, BastÛn de vieja

Lat che'

Cornutia pyramidata L. (Verbenaceae)

Adult form: Tree - Native plant

Herbarium No.: M.J.Clark 1(UADY)

Photo made

Cough (all types)	Leaf	2,3,4,5,6,7	Boil 4 shoot tips, with the other plants, in a quarter of a litre of water with honey	Adults take 4 teaspoonfuls, children 2, every 4 hours for 3 days
Cough	Leaf	2,3,92,93,94,95,98,99	Make a syrup	Take orally
Cough	Leaf	2,94,176	Make a syrup	Take orally
Dry cough	Leaf	Use the plant by itself	Warm the leaves	Press them against the throat
Fever	Leaf	7,71,92,98	Infuse the leaves in a bath	Bathe
Bronchitis	Leaf	2,3,5,93,98,134	Infuse in water	Take orally
Rheumatism	Leaf	10,49,155,166,173,174	Boil the leaves	Take a bath with the infusion

(1) - Reference number of plant (there are 275 plants mentioned in total)
Xoolteí xnuk, BastÛn de vieja - Maya and common names of plant used by the informants in Tihosuco
Lat cheí ñ other Maya and common names obtained from the book 'Etnoflora Yucatanense ñ Lista Floristica y Sinonimia Maya - Fasiculo 1' (1985) V. Sosa; J.S. Flores et al. Published by the Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones
Cornutia pyramidata - Latin taxonomic name of plant
L. - Author of plant (who named the plant)
(Verbenaceae) - Plant family
Adult form - The form of the adult plant (such as herb, tree, climber, etc.)
Native/Introduced plant - Whether the plant is native or was introduced to the peninsula of Yucatan
Herbarium No.: M.J.Clark 1 (UADY) - If indicated, this states that an example of the plant has been included within the 'Alfredo Barrera Marin' herbarium of the University of Yucatan
Photo made - If indicated, this states that a photograph has been made of the plant, which is held at the Caste War Museum in Tihosuco

The five columns of the table are explained as follows:

Use of the plant

Part used

Other herbs which are combined with this plant for this treatment (using the reference number of the other plants)

How the treatment is prepared

(ëPrepared as # Öí signifies that the preparation is the same as the plant indicated by its reference number)

How the treatment is used

(ëUsed as # Öí signifies that the use is the same as the plant indicated by its reference number)

275 plants are included within the book, 225 of which are fully identified taxonomically, 25 identified to genus level, 10 identified to family level and 15 unidentified. The plants represent 84 plant families. Of these plants, 181 are native to the peninsula of Yucatan, 53 were introduced and 41 of the plants listed were not categorised.

One copy of the book was laser printed and from this five copies were photocopied and bound, along with five accompanying booklets listing the plants in the book, to be used for facilitating their reference. One copy of the book was presented to the University, one copy was presented to Siguesmundo Lucini (the original link between myself and Tihosuco), one copy was kept by myself, and the original plus two copies were presented to the project in Tihosuco. Personal copies of the book would later be printed for each of the informants.

It is hoped that the book will eventually be published. Although the university, the people in Tihosuco and other people involved in the project are investigating possible sources of funding, the full funding has not been found to publish the book. For all enquiries about the project and this project, please contact either the Caste War museum in Tihosuco, the ethnobotanical department or myself. All addresses and e-mails can be found by clicking onto ëLinksí on the HomePage.