capolin (Mdz33r)

The name in Latin is Prunus Saicifolia, and it is known by other names, such as "Mexican bird cherry, capulin, capuli, capoli or capolin in Colombia and Mexico, and cerezo, detsé, detzé, taunday, jonote, puan, palman or xengua; cerezo criollo in Colombia; capulin, cereza, cereza común, or wild cherry in Guatemala; capuli in Bolivia; capuli or black cherry in Eucador." It is much like the chokecherry, found in what is now the United States. In John Ray's Historia plantarum (1686–1704) one will see these additional names: Xitoma capolin, Helo capolin, and Totocapolin, all of which appear to have Nahuatl origins. The Growables website, provides an enlarged photograph of the some branches with cherries: https://www.growables.org/information/TropicalFruit/images/CapulinEOL.JPG. This site says the plant is native to Mexico and possibly the western part of Guatemala. The fruit can be eaten raw or cooked; it has often served as a filling for corn tamales. The juice has also been fermented into an alcoholic beverage. The John Carter Brown Library has an image of the capolin from 1651, https://jcb.lunaimaging.com/luna/servlet/detail/JCB~1~1~7088~11010003:-D....