Tenochtitlan (Mdz19r)

This compound glyph for the place name Tenochtitlan features two principal components, a stone (tetl) and an upright, tripartite, prickly pear cactus. The fruit for the cactus is the nochtli. The ligature ("ti") and the locative suffix, -tlan, are not shown visually. The rock or stone [tetl is horizontal in this case, and it is colored half purple and half terracotta-orange. Where the two colors meet there are wavy lines, one of each color, alternating. At each end of the stone are curling elements that are characteristic of representations of rocks and also found on mountains, caves, and the like. The cactus has a leader and two branches. These main parts are painted in two tones of green, light and dark, perhaps for dimensionality. Thorns cover the cactus, red at their base and white at their tips. At the top of the main part of the cactus there is a flower, green at the base (the receptacle or sepal), with petals that are white at their base but predominantly red, and, at the top of the flower are two yellow anthers with a red filament or stamen. The flower is the site that would produce or become the fruit.