Plumeria rubra are listed by botanists often as “tree or shrub.” Half the wild Plumeria rubra that I see across biodiverse ecosystems in different parts of Guatemala are large shrubs or small trees. But on June 6th, 2023, I happened to see the largest flor de mayo tree that I have yet found outside of a cemetery (often in burial areas the trees are more protected so grow taller with thicker trunks).
Uphill from Ipala, Chiquimula department of Guatemala. Over 90% of the Plumeria rubra out in the wild across Guatemala grow on steep hills or even stone cliffs (because these areas are not chopped down for slash-and-burn milpa agriculture). When you Click to Enlarge you may notice lots of epiphytic cactus (arboreal cactus that grow up tree trunks and out on the tree limbs).
Photo by Nicholas Hellmuth, June 6, 2023, iPhone 14 Pro Max. FLAAR Photo Archive has over 30 TB (yes TERAbytes) of digital photos of flora and fauna of Guatemala, Central America.
I estimate there are more water lily flowers in the 5th through 9th centuries than all other flowers combined. Second most popular flower in Maya art would be 4-petalled flowers of many different species of often water-related plants; #3 might be the Fleur de Lis, sometimes a Pseudobombax ellipticum or Pachira aquatica or composite). But water lily flowers, water lily seed pods, and water lily pads are very very common.
This lecture is July 27, 2023, in the Universidad Francisco Marroquin, organized by the Museo Popol Vuh, by MPV curator Camilo Luin. Lots of other lectures by epigraphers and other iconographers for several days. More info and links once July is upon us.
FLAAR can also offer lectures on the iconography of 4-petalled flowers in Classic Maya art.
The water lily of the Maya world, Nymphaea ampla, is the flower most frequently pictured in Classic Maya art. We will be showing several water lily Underwaterworld scenes in our July lecture on iconography and herpetology of crocodiles of the Maya Lowlands (Guatemala and surrounding countries).
This plate is a drawing by FLAAR illustrator published by Hellmuth in the mid-1970’s. The drawing has been redone by many other illustrators and posted other in locations. The dancing idealized young Maya man at the left wears a crocodile headdress (he seems to point at a waterbird who just caught a fish).
Although the lecture is focused on crocodiles, we will also mention God N’s association with crocodiles (in this scene on a Late Classic polychrome plate the personage inside the shell is not the elderly version; Old God N is by far more common). God N lives inside a conch shell, snail shell, turtle shell, spider web and other surroundings (like a hermit crab).
At km 93, from El Rancho northward (heading for Coban), there is Haematoxylum brasiletto in full flowering mode this week.
This tree grows surrounded by cactus plants.
In Peten the palo de campeche grows in seasonally inundated swamps. But palo de tinto flowers in a different month.
We use the route through Alta Verapaz to drive from the FLAAR Mesoamerica office to accomplish field work in the PNYNN and PANAT areas of the RBM, Peten.
Lots of friendly bees sucking nectar out of the pretty yellow flowers.
Alejandra Valenzuela, web statistics, FLAAR Mesoamerica, has provided the statistics. The average-per-month January through October is about 14,000. November and December the number almost doubled (to 27,967 in December). Total for the year is about 190,000.
We continue to receive appreciation from readers for the high-quality photographs of the FLAAR team and the FLAAR Reports that we issue.
Eating chocolate from Theobroma cacao of Guatemala is very healthy. Over a thousand years ago one kind of chile was used so often as a flavoring that still today it is called chile-chocolate. So we wrote our holiday greeting with chile-chocolate on top of cacao seeds (sometimes called cacao beans).
Lots of plants are shown sticking out the top of enema jugs. This PowerPoint will show lots of these; it is still a mystery what kinds of plants or plant parts. Plus, what are the Maya sniffing (in the bouquet)?
On Monday evening, Nov 21, 2022, a PowerPoint presentation will be delivered by Nicholas Hellmuth on his research on enemas that started in 1977. This research won the Ig Nobel Prize 2022 for art history for Dr Hellmuth and Dr Peter De Smet. The iconographic aspect has been updated for the November 2022 presentation.
Classic Maya Enema Ritual Iconography
The Mysterious World of Maya Enemas
Enema Jugs with plants sticking out the top?
Enema Syringes
Enema Bibs
Enema Rituals
Jaguars in Enema Rituals
Females in Enema Rituals
“bouquets” of flowers or plant parts? Being “sniffed” prior to enema injection?
“lipstick” containers, and other cups of unknown materials.
For zoologists: in addition to the common jaguar, deer, monkeys and other animals (or people in animal costumes) are occasionally present.
For iconographers: this ritual is shown in this PowerPoint much more often than published so far. Women are present in many of the scenes, however they themselves do not receive enemas; the females prepare the men to receive the injection.
For epigraphers: updated study is needed of all the hieroglyphs and symbols associated with the enema jug and participants. The lecture shows dozens of enema jugs. Many of these jugs have hieroglyphs on the jug and other symbols nearby.
For botanists: LOTS of plants were ingredients in the enemas. Peter De Smet has studied this aspect in his PhD and subsequently. I still estimate that lots more plants were added (including possibly cacao). His documentation will be cited in the bibliography. LOTS MORE TO STUDY on the ethnobotanical area and ethnopharmaceutical aspects. Not only what was in the jug, but what was in the other containers used in the ceremonies, and the “bouquets”.
The lecture will be in English but questions can be asked and answered also in Spanish.
