Since time unknown, the maguey or agave plant has been used by the people in Mexico for clothing, medicine, shelter, fuel, alcohol and tools. Fibers, called pitas, were taken from the plant and woven into cloth. Thorns were used as sewing needles. Pencas (leaves) were dried to burn as fuel or overlaid for roofing. The sap was used as a sweetener, as medicine or distilled for alcohol. The Aztecs/Mexica even had a specific patron deity for this plant, the goddess Mayahuel.
The goddess Mayahuel
The maguey or agave plant is often mistaken for sábila (aloe vera), but is not closely related. Nor is it a cactus. The maguey can grow without irrigation and can withstand a great variation of moisture and temperature. It grows wild, but can also be cultivated.It may take 10 to 12 years for a maguey plant to be mature enough to “flower”. The “flower” is a large, obtrusive stalk that grows right from the middle of the plant. After flowering, the plant typically dies.
To harvest, the stalk is cut before it blooms, leaving a hollow where the aguamiel (honey water) is collected. This juice can be fermented into an alcoholic drink which the Aztecs called octli, and is now called pulque. For tequila or mezcal, the sap is collected by heating the center of the plant in ovens and then distilled.
The Aztec/Mexica god of pulque wine, Tezcatzoncatl.
According to my trusty source, Antiguo Recetario Medicinal Azteca, this plant is more than just making tequila or pulque. It can treat syphilis, accelerate the formation of scarring on wounds, cure gonorrhea, can be used as a strong stomach and intestine antiseptic (the sap has antibiotic properties which was also used to kill both staphylococcus aureaus and E. coli bacteria) and is useful as a laxative. Additionally, Bernardino de Sahagún attested in his book Historia General de las cosas de la Nueva España, that aguamiel was also used as a treatment for sore throats by the Aztecs.
Drinking pulque.
Antiguo Recetario Medicinal Azteca suggests that for syphilis treatment, water and 10 drops of the sap from the root of the maquey should be drunk in the morning and 10 drops in the afternoon on the first day of treatment. The second day the dosage should be 20 drops and so on until 200 drops are ingested in each day.
For aid in scar formation, heat the pencas (leaves) and squeeze out the juice much as you would with aloe vera. (See Animal Doctoring) The juice should be boiled with a little sugar until thickened. The salve should be placed on a cloth and tied around the wound.
Gonorrhea can be treated by drinking the 1/4 cup of cooked aguamiel (maguey juice) for 15 days.
For stomach and intestine cleansing, it is recommended to drink one glass of aguamiel with breakfast.
While most pharmaceutical companies would poo-poo the use of maguey in treatment, these recipes have been around a long time and there may be some basis for using maguey medicinally.
We have even used the maguey penca in cooking goat. We dug a large hole and lined it with rocks which we then lined with dethorned maguey leaves. The goat was cut into pieces and put in a pot and then the hole was topped with another maguey leaf. The meat cooked, or steamed, overnight and was as tender as could be. Delicious!
With so many wildflowers growing in La Yacata, at times, I am overwhelmed with being so under informed, not being a native and all. I am sure that these plants are useful, and not just another pretty face, but it has been difficult to find anyone that knows herblore anymore.
My mother was always interested in herbs and I remember drying and using chamomile flowers. For that reason, when I discovered this plant in my backyard, I thought at first it was a type of local chamomile. Locals call is manzanilla, which is chamomile. However, upon closer examination, it seemed just a little bit different than the chamomile flowers my mother dried. Although the flower was similar, it had a flat center rather than a cone shaped one and thus it was feverfew, not chamomile after all.
Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) is also known as also known as altamisa, amargaza, amargazón, arrugas, artemisa, botón de plata, botón de plata común, camamila de los huertos, camelina de los huertos, camomila de Aragón, chapote, flor de la calentura, flor de santos, gamarza, gamaza, gamazón, hierba de altamira, hierba de Santa María, hierba santa, madrehuela doble, madrehuela olorosa, madrehuela rósea, magarsa, magarza, magarza amarilla, magarzuela, manzanilla, manzanilla botonera, manzanilla brava, manzanillo, manzanillón, margaza, matricaria, matronaria, pelitre, Santa María blanca, yerba de Santa María in Mexican Spanich and in Aztec– iztactzapotl or cochitzapotl.
Even with all these names, I wasn’t able to find any information in my Aztec medicine booklets. But I was able to find a page in another of my books in my small, but oh so useful library.
The name feverfew is misleading since this plant has not been shown to reduce fever. However, it has been used for centuries to prevent or reduce migraines. It also has been shown to relieve muscle spasms and can be used a mild sedative.
Cut and hung feverfew drying for tea.
When I asked around, my local sources told me this plant could be dried and made into a tea. I wasted no time in cutting and hanging. I have periodic migraines, leftover from a car accident some 20 years ago, and my husband constantly complains about hernia pain even after his operation, so I figured this was the perfect tea for us.
Dried feverfew
When the plant was finally dry, I crunched the flowers and leaves, discarding the stems and roots. It had a very strong herb scent, but I was bound and determined to make a tea.
I admit the first cup of tea was so very strong that we had to choke it down. (I made everybody drink a cup). So the next cup, I tried adding local organic honey and our own organic raw goat milk to try and cut the flavor. We decided this tea wasn’t a tea for milk, so the third night I just added the honey and we all agreed that it was passably flavored like that.
This plant is self-seeding and before we even finished the first batch, there were plants to cut and dry. This time, I am going to try and separate the flowers and leaves and try a tea with just the flowers. The leaves are pungent and make the tea a might bit strong for our tastes.
With the number of visits we had to make to the hospital in order to get a prescription refill (See Seguro Popular—A model of inefficiency) it was no big surprise that we picked up a stomach bug and brought it home. My husband and I just felt a little under the weather for a few days, but my son ended up with the works, aches and pains, fever, vomiting, diarrhea and headache.
Being a champ, he complained a bit, but grimly went to school. However, about an hour later, he called to say that he wanted to be picked up as he had vomited all over his uniform.
When he was tucked into bed, I went to talk to my sister-in-law up the hill. I told her about my son’s unfortunate episode at school and immediately she yanked up a plant root and all, from the side of the road next to the house. She told me to make a tea from the root of this plant, she called lentejilla, to help with an upset stomach.
The root of this small plant is a bit stringy and smells sort of like a radish. I washed the root and set it to boil with just a little bit of water. My son did not want to drink it. He said it tasted terrible. So I had a sip. I admit it wasn’t sweet, but it wasn’t terrible. It had an herby, rooty taste. My husband told him he was going to drink it and that was that. The cup was empty in no time and back to bed, he went. He had a second cup in the morning, despite his protests of being “fine now”.
Although he still felt weak for the next 2 or three days, there was no more vomiting or diarrhea. Yeah, another herbal cure!
So what is lentejilla? It grows wild all over La Yacata and I had never paid it any attention before. It grows mostly in areas that had been formerly cultivated, but now are abandoned; hence it’s profligacy in La Yacata. It is a small green plant with tiny flat, oval leaves and grows little white flowers. I was unable to find any information about it in my Antiguo Recetario Medicional Azteca book, but it may be there just listed under a different name.
In Náhuatl, this herb is called chilacaquilitl or mexixi, in Mazahua it is yo-hi and in Mayan called x-cabal pul. It is also known as lentejuela, pierna de vieja, kuitiski, meshishi, yuku kue eni, lipajna shla, kabal puut or tskam utsun. Botanically it is either Lepidium intermedium Gray or Lepidium apetalum Millar. It is also called Peppergrass.
No matter what it might be named, it is a useful herb to have around.
Since time unknown, the maguey or agave plant has been used by the people in Mexico for clothing, medicine, shelter, fuel, alcohol and tools. Fibers, called pitas, were taken from the plant and woven into cloth. Thorns were used as sewing needles. Pencas (leaves) were dried to burn as fuel or overlaid for roofing. The sap was used as a sweetener, as medicine or distilled for alcohol. The Aztecs/Mexica even had a specific patron deity for this plant, the goddess Mayahuel.
To harvest, the stalk is cut before it blooms, leaving a hollow where the aguamiel (honey water) is collected. This juice can be fermented into an alcoholic drink which the Aztecs called octli, and is now called pulque. For tequila or mezcal, the sap is collected by heating the center of the plant in ovens and then distilled.
We have even used the maguey penca in cooking goat. We dug a large hole and lined it with rocks which we then lined with dethorned maguey leaves. The goat was cut into pieces and put in a pot and then the hole was topped with another maguey leaf. The meat cooked, or steamed, overnight and was as tender as could be. Delicious!
Surviving Mexico 