cempohualxochitl (FCbk11f186v)

This iconographic example in a black-line drawing features a marigold (cempohualxochitl), a flowering plant that is endemic to Mesoamerica. It is included in this digital collection for the purpose of making comparisons with related hieroglyphs. The term selected for this example comes from the text near the image in the Digital Florentine Codex. There is no gloss, per se. This example shows a single blossom with a stem and two saw-blade-shaped leaves that curve around the flower like parentheses. The cempohualxochitl is a flower that carries a religious significance for the Indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica. This name literally translates as "Twenty Flowers," and today it can be spelled many different ways, but often with dropping syllables. In pre-contact times, this flower had an association with the sun. Today it has strong associations with early November and the Day of the Dead. The contextualizing image has other flowers, such as the Cihuaxochitl and the Oquichxochitl, with an interesting gendering of the names. See also Book 11, folio 198r, for additional drawings of the cempohualxochitl.