■ 1435 
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 -opy 2 
 
 SACRED FLOWERS OF THE AZTECS 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM EDWIN SAFFORD 
 
 Revised and reprinted from the Volta Review, Vol. XIV, No. 2, 
 May. 1912 
 
 PRBSS OP JUDD & DSTWEILER, INC. 
 WASHINGTON, D. C. 
 
 c 
 
SACRED FLOWERS OF THE AZTECS 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM EDWIN SAFFORD 
 
 Revised and reprinted from the Volta Review, Vol. XIV, No. 2, 
 May, 1912 
 
 PRESS OE JUDD & DETWEILER, INC. 
 WASHINGTON, D. C. 
 
Photo by Mr. C. B. Doyle 
 THE SACRED EAR-ELOWER OE THE AZTECS (Cyiiibopcfal 1! Ill pciiduUfloriiin) : natural size: 
 
 Gift 
 
SACRED FLOWERS OF THE AZTECS 
 
 ^ 
 
 BY WILLIAM EDWIN SAFFORD 
 
 THE love of beauty was strongly de- 
 veloped among the ancient Mexi- 
 cans. Their poems and songs which 
 have come down to us abound in ex- 
 quisite metaphors and similes, and are 
 sometimes made up entirely of images, 
 recalling flowery meadows, jewels of 
 every color, the thousand songs of the 
 mocking bird, the resplendent feathers 
 of humming birds or the royal trogon, 
 and the lovely hues of the rainbow. 
 
 The floating gardens of the Mexican 
 lakes and the magnificent parks which 
 the Spaniards encountered on their 
 march to the city of Mexico were a 
 source of wonder and admiration to all 
 who beheld them. The floating gardens 
 still exist and are today the principal 
 source of the flowers in the markets of 
 Mexico City, but scarcely a vestige re- 
 mains of the parks of Montezuma, with 
 their great reservoirs, their irrigating 
 ditches, and the garden plots, which were 
 laid off by intersecting walks. 
 
 Flowers adorned the ancient temples 
 and idols ; even the priests, while per- 
 forming their bloody rites, wore wreaths 
 and garlands. No one could enter the 
 presence of royalty without a floral offer- 
 ing, and certain flowers were permitted 
 to be carried only by persons of royal 
 lineage. Certain flowers, herbs, and 
 roots were used by wizards for working 
 their spells ; others were used as safe- 
 guards from witchcraft and magic, or as 
 amulets for good luck. 
 
 It has not been possible to identify all 
 the flowers mentioned by the early writ- 
 ers. Some are well known, though their 
 Aztec, or Nahuatl, names have been 
 superseded by modern names, which are 
 sometimes misleading. Among the latter 
 are the common marigold, which the 
 ancient Mexicans called cempoalxochitl, 
 or the "flower with a thousand petals." 
 Now marigolds, botanically known as 
 Tagetes, are sometimes referred to as 
 "African marigolds," or "French mari- 
 
 golds" ; they are, however, of Mexican 
 origin, and were much used by the Az- 
 tecs in their religious ceremonies. The 
 Mexican name for "flower" was xochitl, 
 and for "tree," quahuitl. They formed 
 their names by combining a number of 
 words together, leaving off the terminal 
 tl or tli from all of the words but the 
 last. Thus the spotted animal called 
 ocelot takes its name from the Mexican 
 ocelotl, and to form the name "ocelot- 
 flower" the Mexicans drop the final tl of 
 ocelotl and call the flower oceloxochitl. 
 
 the; sacred ear-flower 
 
 Among the flowers most highly prized 
 by the ancient Mexicans was one called 
 the "flower ear" (.vochinacastli), or 
 "sacred ear'" (fig. i) (teonacastli) , the 
 botanical identity of which has only re- 
 cently been established.* This flower, ac- 
 cording to early writers, was valued both 
 on account of its fragrance and for the 
 aromatic flavor of its spicy petals, which 
 were ground up, together with the toasted 
 seeds of cacao, for making chocolate. 
 The earliest account we have of it was 
 written by Padre Bernardino de Sahagun 
 about the year 1569, but his manuscript 
 remained unpublished until compara- 
 tively recently. He called it teimacastli, 
 from teiitl, or teotl, "god," and nacaztli, 
 "ear." The first account to be published 
 was that of Dr. Francisco Hernandez, a 
 physician sent in 1570 by Philip H, King 
 of Spain, to study the resources of the 
 New World. Hernandez figured many 
 of the most remarkable plants of Mexico, 
 but he was in no sense a botanist. His 
 figures (fig. 2) were often rude and 
 scarcely recognizable and his descriptions 
 far from adequate. His work, like that 
 of Sahagun, remained unpublished for a 
 long time. It first appeared in a Spanish 
 translation by Ximenez, printed in the 
 
 *See Safford, W. E., "The sacred ear- 
 flower of the Aztecs : xochinacaztli," in the 
 Smithsonian Report for 1910, pp. 427-431. igir. 
 
88 
 
 THE VOLT A REVIEW 
 
 city of Mexico in 1615 without illustra- 
 tions. The Latin addition, with iigures 
 made from Hernandez's drawings, ap- 
 peared in Rome in 1651, long after the 
 death of Hernandez. It was not com- 
 plete, but embraced only the portions of 
 Hernandez's work relating to materia 
 medica. The "ear-flower'' he described 
 under the heading "De xochinacastli sen 
 Hore auriculcc." The following is trans- 
 lated from Ximenez : 
 
 greatest charm and taste, together with 
 a very fragrant odor and flavor to that 
 celebrated drink cacao, which they call 
 ehocolate, and it imparts to it certain 
 tonic properties and wholesomeness as 
 well. It is said that when drunk in water 
 this flower dispels flatulency, causes 
 phlegm to become thin, warms and com- 
 forts the stomach which has been chilled 
 or weakened, as well as the heart, and 
 that it is efficacious in asthma, ground to 
 
 FIG. I. THE SACRED EAR-FEOWER OF THE AZTECS : TWICE NATURAE SIZE 
 
 "The flower is divided into leaves shaped almost exactly like ears." — Ximenez 
 
 "The xochinacastli is a rare tree, with 
 leaves long and narrow and of a deep 
 green color. Its flowers, borne on a 
 pendent velvety peduncle, are divided 
 into leaves, which are purplish within 
 and herbaceous without, shaped almost 
 exactly like ears, and of a very agreeable 
 odor. It grows in warm countries, and 
 there is nothing else in the tiaiigues and 
 markets of the Indians more frequently 
 found nor more highly prized than this 
 flower. The which is wont to g'ive the 
 
 a powder with the addition of two pods 
 of the large red peppers called texochilli, 
 with their seeds removed and toasted on 
 a conial, which is a kind of griddle on 
 which the natives toast and make their 
 bread, called by us tortillas, adding to 
 the same three drops of balsam and tak- 
 ing it in some suitable liquor." 
 
 Since the time of Hernandez many 
 works have appeared in which the eco- 
 nomic plants of the Aztecs have been 
 discussed, but in none of them is the 
 
SACKED FLOWERS OF THE AZTECS 
 
 89 
 
 FIG. 2. THE "ear-flower" AS FIGURED BY 
 HERNANDEZ IN I576 
 
 botanical identity of the xochinacastli 
 hinted at, though it is invariably men- 
 tioned. 
 
 While engaged in studying the plants 
 belonging to the Annonacea:, or custard- 
 apple family, the writer came upon a 
 photograph in the files of the Bureau 
 of Plant Industry of the United States 
 Department of Agriculture, showing a 
 number of long-stemmed flowers with 
 the three inner petals very much like the 
 human ear in shape. He suspected that 
 these might be the flowers of the sacred 
 ear-flower, for which he had so long 
 been seeking. This photograph (plate) 
 was taken by Mr. C. B. Doyle in the 
 market of Coban, Guatemala, while ac- 
 
 companying Mr. O. F. Cook on a mission 
 of agricultural exploration in 1904. Mr. 
 Cook in his notes states that the flowers 
 had a pleasant, spicy odor. They were 
 offered for sale both fresh and in the 
 form of dried black petals curled up on 
 the edges and heavily veined inside. The 
 sepals and outer petals of the fresh 
 flowers were light green and the inner, 
 thicker petals of a pale, dull, salmon 
 color, breaking with a bright orange- 
 colored fracture. No herbarium speci- 
 mens of the plant were secured at this 
 time, but two years later, in May, 1906, 
 Mr. Cook secured specimens of an an- 
 nonaceous plant at Jacaltenango, Guate- 
 mala, which he did not associate with 
 the aromatic flowers of the Coban mar- 
 ket, which proved to be of the same 
 species with them. They were found by 
 the writer in the United States National 
 Herbarium (sheet No. 574411). On 
 tasting the dried petals they proved to 
 have a pungent spicy flavor like nutmegs, 
 or perhaps cubebs. The identity of the 
 xochinacastli was revealed. 
 
 The xocliinacastli, or, as it is known 
 botanically, Cymbopetalum pendiiliHo- 
 rum, is endemic in the forests of north- 
 western Guatemala and across the border 
 in the Mexican State of Chiapas. The 
 use of its flowers as a spice, once so 
 widely spread, gradually died out, on ac- 
 count of the introduction of cinnamon 
 from the East Indies, which now, to- 
 gether with vanilla, is almost universally 
 used for flavoring chocolate. 
 
 VANILLA : THL "bLACK FLOWE;r" OF" THIS 
 AZTECS 
 
 Vanilla itself is of Mexican origin. It 
 was highly esteemed by the Aztecs, who 
 called it tlilxochitl (black flower), on 
 account of the color of its long black 
 pod. This is the fruit of a climbing 
 orchid, which is endemic in the forests 
 of Vera Cruz and other warm, moist re- 
 gions of Mexico. It takes its common 
 name, vanilla, from the Spanish vainilla, 
 signifying a "little legume," vainilla be- 
 ing the diminutive form of vaina, signi- 
 fying a scabbard, or slender pod. It is 
 easily propagated by cuttings and is now 
 
90 
 
 THE VOLT A REVIEW 
 
 widely cultivated in various tropical 
 countries, its flowers requiring to be arti- 
 ficially pollinated to produce pods in all 
 localities except where the plant is na- 
 
 FIG. 3. THE SERPENT-HEAD FEOWER AS FIGURED 
 BY HERNANDEZ IN I576 
 
 tive. This is probably owing to the 
 absence of certain insects which naturally 
 perform this task. 
 
 Another beautiful orchid, perhaps the 
 most highly esteemed of all the Mexican 
 flowers, was called coatzontecomaxocJiitl, 
 the "serpent-head flower." There may 
 have been more than one species called 
 by this name, but that which was figured 
 by Hernandez (fig. 3) is known botani- 
 cally as Stanhopea ociilata. The genus 
 Stanhopea to which it belongs was named 
 
 in honor of Earl Stanhope, at one time 
 president of the Medico-Botanical Soci- 
 ety of London. So greatly was this 
 flower admired that it was adopted as 
 the symbol or coat of arms of the learned 
 Lincean Society of Rome in the seven- 
 teenth century. It is epiphytal in its 
 habit, with broad plicated leaves grow- 
 ing from a cluster of pseudo-bulbs at- 
 tached to the mossy limbs of trees, and 
 large, nodding, fragrant flowers varie- 
 gated with various colors. It is not 
 surprising that the ancient Alexicans 
 attributed magic properties to it and re- 
 garded it as sacred. In speaking of it, 
 Padre Ximenez says : "No words can 
 worthily describe nor pencil depict the 
 beauty of this flower, which is greatly 
 esteemed and highly valued by the Mexi- 
 can princes." It grows attached to rocks 
 or tree trunks, whence it is brought to 
 the gardens of the Mexicans and there 
 serves as a beautiful ornament, produc- 
 ing its lovely flowers at intervals, season 
 after season, and filling the air with its 
 fragrance. The accompanying drawing 
 (fig. 4), made by Mr. Theodore Bolton, 
 is interesting not only for its artistic 
 beauty and accuracy, but also for the 
 contrast it offers to the stiff figure of 
 Hernandez. The latter, though rude, is 
 far better and more accurate than most 
 of the drawings in his work above re- 
 ferred to, and is sufiiciently exact for 
 the determination of the botanical spe- 
 cies of the plant depicted. 
 
 THU OCELOT FLOWER OR TRINITY PLANT 
 
 The oceloxochitl, or "ocelot flower," to 
 which I have already referred, is known 
 botanically as Tigridia pavonia. It has 
 somewhat the form of a "mariposa lily," 
 but it belongs to the Iris family instead 
 of to the Liliacecc. Its generic name and 
 its common Spanish name, "flor del 
 tigre," are scarcely applicable, since 
 tigers are marked with stripes, while this 
 beautiful flower is spotted, rather like a 
 leopard. It is sometimes called "Hierba 
 de la Trinidad," or Trinity plant, from 
 the shape of its perianth, its three sta- 
 mens, and its three stigmas. Hernandez's 
 figure (fig. 5) is very stiff' and quite 
 
SACRED FLOWERS OF THE AZTECS 
 
 91 
 
 FIG. 4. THE SERPENT-HEAD ORCHID (Staiiliopea oculata) reduced one-half 
 
92 
 
 THE VOLT A RBVIBW 
 
 sometimes called "devil's hands." Only 
 one tree of the kind was supposed to 
 exist. It was of great age and had lobed 
 leaves somewhat like those of a plane 
 tree. The flowers have no corolla, but 
 
 FIG. S. THE OCElvOT FI,OWER AS FIGURED BY 
 HERNANDEZ IN I576 
 
 inadequate to suggest the exquisite 
 beauty of the flower, which is faithfully 
 represented by Mr. Theodore Bolton 
 (fig. 6). The divisions of the perianth 
 are either yellow or orange red richly 
 variegated with tawny or reddish spots, 
 which at once suggest the markings of 
 some leopard-like animal. The starchy 
 roots, called by the Aztecs cacomitl, are 
 edible and have somewhat the taste of 
 chestnuts. They were also reputed by 
 the ancient Mexicans to be efficacious in 
 fevers. 
 
 the; "de;vil's-hand flower" 
 
 Among the trees regarded by the 
 Mexicans with superstitious veneration 
 was one growing near the city of Toluca, 
 called macpalxochiquahuitl (hand-palm 
 flower-tree), which bore peculiar flowers, 
 
 FIG. 6. THE OCELOT FLOWER : DRAWING BY THEO- 
 DORE BOLTON, REDUCED ONE" HALF 
 
 in its place a cuplike, five-parted calyx, 
 at the bottom of which are five yellow 
 cavities filled with nectar. The remark- 
 able feature of the flower is the form of 
 the stamens, which grow together like 
 
SACKED FLOWERS OF THE AZTECS 
 
 93 
 
 the fingers of a human hand, from the 
 palm of which issues the style. The 
 stamens are bright red and are tipped 
 with appendages resembling claws. Bot- 
 anists have placed this tree in the Ster- 
 
 FIG. 7. 
 
 THE HAND-FLOWRR AS FIGURED BY 
 HERNANDEZ IN 1576 
 
 culia family and named it Chiranthoden- 
 dron platanoides. They have found that 
 its nearest relative is a shrub growing on 
 the upper Sacramento River, in Califor- 
 nia, called F remontod'endron calif orni- 
 ciim. The latter has palmately lobed 
 leaves, which are rusty beneath, like 
 those of the hand-flower tree, and its 
 calyx is also provided with nectaries, 
 which are much visited by bees. The 
 occurrence of a single tree was at first 
 a source of wonder, but the mystery was 
 solved by the discovery of a whole grove 
 of the trees in Guatemala. It is interest- 
 ing to note that these were found grow- 
 
 ing on the slope of the Volcano de Agua, 
 near the ancient town of Antigua, at an 
 elevation above the sea of about 8,000 
 feet ; so that it is not surprising that 
 the specimen which established itself in 
 Mexico, whither it had been brought in 
 pre-Columbian times from Guatemala, 
 had found a congenial home at about the 
 same elevation in the soil of the volcano 
 of Toluca. The figure here presented 
 is the exaggerated drawing of Hernan- 
 dez (tig. 7), which may be compared 
 with the accurate figure of Mr. Bolton 
 (fig. 8), drawn from a herbarium speci- 
 men brought home from Guatemala by 
 Mr. William R. Maxon, of the United 
 States National Herbarium. 
 
 The flowers described in this paper are 
 only an index to hundreds of beautiful 
 
 FIG. 8. THE HAND-FLOWER (Chirautliodeiidrou 
 platanoides) reduced one-half 
 
 and curious vegetable products which the 
 Spaniards encountered in the New World. 
 The virtues attributed some of these 
 were fanciful ; others proved to be valu- 
 able additions to the pharmacopcea, while 
 others, such as Indian corn and cacao, 
 have assumed an important place in the 
 world's economy. 
 
THE VOLTA BUREAU 
 
 For the Increase and Diffusion of Knowledge Relating 
 
 to the Deaf 
 
 Superintendent 
 Harris Taylor, 35th Street and Volta Place, Washington, D. C. 
 
 Curator 
 Edward L. Dent 
 
 The Volta Bureau aims to preserve in its fire-proof library in Washington, 
 D. C, the literature of the world relating to the education of the deaf, and 
 to the means of ameliorating their condition. 
 
 Its collections include the principal works upon the Education of the 
 Deaf, or deaf-and-"dumb" ; the published Reports of Schools for the Deaf 
 in America and other countries ; Files of the newspapers and periodicals 
 published by and for the Deaf, with most, if not all, of the extinct news- 
 papers of the Deaf, and much unpublished material, available for research 
 work, including the following: 
 
 (i) A card catalogue of more than 50,000 deaf children admitted into special schools 
 for the deaf in the United States during the nineteenth century (1817-1900), 
 with full details concerning them taken from the private records of the schools. 
 
 (2) Voluminous MSS. containing authentic information concerning 4,471 marriages 
 of persons deaf-from-childhood (deaf-and-dumb), supplied by the families 
 themselves, with details concerning the parents and other ancestors, and the 
 brothers and sisters and children of the partners in marriage. Many of the 
 details have been transferred to cards to facilitate the preparation of statistical 
 tables. 
 
 (3) The special schedules of the Deaf used by the Census Office in 1900, contain- 
 ing detailed information concerning 89,287 persons returned as deaf or "deaf- 
 and-dumb" in the Twelfth Census of the United States. The information is 
 authentic because supplied by the deaf persons themselves. The perforated 
 cards used by the Census Office in tabulating the returns are also preserved 
 in the Volta Bureau. 
 
 (4) The special schedules of the Blind used by the Census Office in 1900, contain- 
 ing detailed information concerning 64,763 persons returned as Blind in the 
 Twelfth Census of the United States. The information is authentic, because 
 supplied by the blind persons themselves. The perforated cards used by the 
 Census Office in tabulating the returns, are also preserved in the Volta Bureau. 
 
 The above-mentioned material (l to 4), being of a confidential nature, cannot be 
 thrown open to the general public, but the Volta Bureau welcomes bona iide investi- 
 gators and will give them free access to the material under suitable restrictions relating 
 to the use of names, &c. 
 
 The Volta Bureau forms a medium of exchange between the Schools for 
 the Deaf of the world. It distributes the reports of American Schools for 
 the Deaf to foreign schools, and the reports of foreign schools to American 
 schools. 
 
 It supports a Teachers' Information Agency, and keeps on file a list of 
 teachers seeking appointments and a list of Superintendents and Principals 
 desiring teachers for deaf children. 
 
 PRESS OF JUDD & DETWEILER, C^«ag|^^t< INC., WASHINGTON, D. C. 
 
THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION TO PROMOTE 
 THE TEACHING OF SPEECH TO THE DEAF 
 is a Philanthropic Society, incorporated in i8go under the 
 laws of the State of New York. 
 
 Official Headquarters 
 945 N. St. Paul St., Rochester, N. Y. 
 
 Business Office 
 The Volta Bureau, 35th St. and Voha Place, Washington, D. C. 
 
 The objects of the Association as defined in its certificate of incorporation 
 are: 
 
 "To AID Schools for the Deaf in their efforts to teach 
 Speech and Speech -Reading — 
 
 "By providing schools for the training of articulation teach- 
 ers; 
 
 "By the employment of an agent or agents who shall, by the 
 collection and publication of statistics and papers- relating 
 to the subject and by conference with teachers and others, dis- 
 seminate information concerning methods of teaching speech 
 and speech-reading; and 
 
 "By using all such other means as may be deemed expedient, 
 to the end that no deaf child in America shall be allowed to 
 grow up 'deaf and dumb/ or 'mute,' zvithout earnest and 
 persistent efforts having been made to teach him to speak and 
 read the lips." 
 
 In pursuance of these objects the Association supports a summer school 
 for the training of articulation teachers, and contributes towards the mainte- 
 nance of a normal class of instruction at the Clarke School for the Deaf, 
 at Northampton, Mass. 
 
 Conventions of articulation teachers and summer meetings of the Asso- 
 ciation are held from time to time in various parts of the United States, 
 with the object of improving the methods of teaching speech to the deaf 
 by means of lectures and discussions by specialists. 
 
 The Association publishes The Volta Review, an illustrated monthly 
 magazine, and issues from time to time monographs relating to the teaching 
 of speech to the deaf. 
 
 In addition to its special work in promoting the teaching of speech to the 
 deaf, the Association, through a Superintendent, now carries on the work of 
 the Volta Bureau in Washington, D. C, an institution dealing more generally 
 with the education of the deaf and the amelioration of their condition. 
 
 (For Work of Volta Bureau See Over) 
 
The American Association to Promote the Teaching of 
 
 Speech to the Deaf 
 
 President, A. L. E. Crouter, Mt. Airy, Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 First Vice-President, Edmund Lyon, Rochester, N. Y. 
 
 Second Vice-President, Caroline A. YalE, Northampton, Mass. 
 
 Official Secretary, Z. F. Westervelt, 945 N. St. Paul St., Rochester, N. Y. 
 
 General Secretary, PIarris Taylor, Volta Bureau, 35th Street and Volta Place, 
 
 Washington, D. C. 
 
 Treasurer, Frederick Eichelberger, Washington Loan and Trust Co., Washington, D. C. 
 Auditor, Gilbert PL Grosvenor, Washington, D. C. 
 
 The Volta Review, the organ of the Association, is edited by a PubHca- 
 tion Committee : 
 
 Chairman, Alexander Graham Bell, Washington, D. C. 
 Secretary, FrEd De Land, Washington, D. C. 
 
 The Association welcomes to its membership all persons who desire to promote the 
 teaching of speech to the deaf. Membership dues, $2.00 a year, with no entrance fee. 
 Life membership, $50.00. The VolTa Review is sent free to members. The Review 
 is published monthly (with no July or August issues). Subscription price to non- 
 members, $2.50 a year. 
 
 Appltrattan for iEpmln^rsIitp 
 
 To THE Ghneral Secretary, 
 
 Volta Bureau, Washington, D. C: 
 
 I desire to become a member of the American Association to Promote 
 the Teaching of Speech to the Deaf, and inclose Two Dollars in payment 
 of dues for 1912. 
 
 Name 
 
 Address... 
 
 Date ... 
 
 Applirattnn far i£ift-Mvmbnal}ip 
 
 To the General Secretary, 
 
 Volta Bureau, Washington, D. C: 
 
 I desire to become a Life-Member of the American Association to Pro- 
 mote the Teaching of Speech to the Deaf, and inclose the sum of Fifty 
 Dollars in lieu of Annual Dues. 
 
 Name 
 
 Address 
 
 Date 
 

 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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