xaltomatl (FCbk11f139r)

xaltomatl (FCbk11f139r)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This iconographic example, featuring a purple berry (xaltomatl), 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 small plant with nine green leaves on three stalks that have purple or black round berries at the tips. At the bottom of the plant, short white roots are visible.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Another entry in Book 11 again shows the xaltomatl, but in that case it has larger, yellow fruit (see folio 147v). This example here of the iconography of the xaltomatl does not include its blossoms, but the digital collection does include one example of the Xaltomaxochitl, a woman’s name. See below.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image: 
Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription: 

Xaltomatl

Gloss/Text Normalization: 

xaltomatl

Gloss/Text Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Florentine/Florentinus, Codex (FC)
Date of Manuscript: 

1577

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Flowers
Plants, Flora
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
green (light)
purple
white/neutral
Shapes and Perspectives: 
circle(s) (small, often concentric)
frontal view
leaf, marquise, pointed oval
roots are visible
Keywords: 

jalomatas, flores, moras, plantas, comida

Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s): 

xaltoma(tl), a purple to black berry, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xaltomatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

la jalomata

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Available at Digital Florentine Codex/Códice Florentino Digital, edited by Kim N. Richter and Alicia Maria Houtrouw, "Book 11: Earthly Things", fol. 139r, Getty Research Institute, 2023. https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/en/book/11/folio/139r/images/0 Accessed 16 November 2025.

Image Source, Rights: 

Images of the digitized Florentine Codex are made available under the following Creative Commons license: CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International). For print-publication quality photos, please contact the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana ([email protected]). The Library of Congress has also published this manuscript, using the images of the World Digital Library copy. “The Library of Congress is unaware of any copyright or other restrictions in the World Digital Library Collection. Absent any such restrictions, these materials are free to use and reuse.”

Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Xaltomaxochitl (MH796r)