cimatl (FCbk11f128r)

This iconographic example, featuring an edible root (cimatl), 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 horizontal, light purple root with a nearly vertical attached branch with green leaves and two clumps of yellow seed pods. The leaves are called cuahueco. This plant is either sitting on green grass. The partial shading of the root and the use of a landscape setting shows European artistic influences. These are also apparent in the contextualizing image, which shows a Nahua man in a ¾ to profile view, facing right, wearing a cloak and a loincloth. He is involved in harvesting another cimatl, and a pile with at least four of these roots lies on the ground farther to the viewer’s right. There may be a digging stick (huictli) stuck in the ground next to the root that the man is harvesting. The nearby Nahuatl text explains that this root must be cooked in a pot so as not to make someone sick. The foliage, however, can be eaten raw, and it is the foliage that is propagated and transplanted. The DFC keywording team calls the cimatl a “runner bean.” The DFC also shows another cimatl on folio 132v, looking much the same, showing the root and the clusters of beans on the plant that is above ground.