In search of a Mesoamerican floricultural tradition: Ceremonial and ornamental plants among the Yucatecan Maya

Plant species valued primarily for aesthetic and ceremonial reasons were hypothesized as significant elements of ancient Maya culture. It was further hypothesized that this importance led to the domestication of local species. These hypotheses were investigated through documentary sources and fieldwork in Yucatan.;A reconstruction of Maya ritual-thought from ethnohistorical sources revealed that individuals and deities were assigned a tree taxon based on their birthdays in the ritual calendar. Deities and nobles were further associated with arbors and huts, also named as trees. Vestiges of the association of tree species with specific deities are found in contemporary ceremonies. Leafy branches of specific trees are used to construct altars for agricultural ceremonies addressed to Maya deities; flowers are used in other ceremonies addressed to Catholic saints. Contemporary Maya do not offer explanations for the associations they employ; these are today habitual, traditional associations. Nevertheless, two of the four trees specifically mentioned in tree-day associations in ethnohistorical documents--plumeria (Plumeria rubra) and habin (Piscidia piscipula)--are still two of the most important ceremonial plants, one in each ceremonial context.;Surveys of dooryard gardens in three communities documented a diverse contemporary ornamental flora--a total of 85 ornamental taxa, over 50 species in each community, and an average of seven-plus ornamental species per garden. The most common and abundant of these are introduced taxa. Domestication of local plants for their flowers has not left a strong mark on contemporary gardens. Native Yucatecan species are a very small portion of the total taxa (15 of 85); most of these are not true domesticates. Though there probably were ornamentals in precolumbian Maya gardens, contemporary gardens are poor guides to those past gardens.;The contemporary ornamental flora does not, therefore, provide a strong basis on which to examine the connections between ancient conceptions and ornamental domestication. It does reveal, however, a continuing interest in plants for their aesthetic and ornamental qualities. The ideas and conceptions behind contemporary gardens are the result of the merger of two distinct religious and floricultural traditions, Maya and Spanish, modified by modern influences.