xocotl (Mdz8r)

xocotl (Mdz8r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element for xocotl (a native plum tree) has been carved from the compound sign for the place name, Axocopan. The tree shown here has a leader and two side branches. The bark is a terracotta color. Two-tone green foliage appears at the end of each branch, and protruding from the foliage, on short stems, are three yellow balls, presumably the sour fruit that the tree is known to produce.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Other examples of the xocotl are shown below, right. A very similar looking fruit is the xalxocotl, or guava.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, but by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

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

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
green (dark)
green (light)
orange/terracotta
yellow or golden
Shapes and Perspectives: 
circle(s) (small, often concentric)
tripartite
vertical, upright
Keywords: 

trees, árboles, frutas agrias, sour fruits

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

xoco(tl), a native plum tree, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xocotl
xalxoco(tl), guava fruit or tree, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xalxocotl

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 8 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 25, of 188.

Image Source, Rights: 

The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, hold the original manuscript, the MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1. This image is published here under the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0).

See Also: 

Axocopan (Mdz8r)

xocotl (Mdz27r)

xocotl (Mdz55r)