Summary
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1.
A list has been compiled of the species of food and container plants found in the market at Tehuacán, Puebla, Mexico, during a 10-day period in March, 1962. The list comprises 83 species; 56% are New World and 42% Old World, while 2% are common to the tropics of both hemispheres. About 28% of the total number of species are thought to be Mexican endemics.
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2.
The extensive use made of native food plants suggests that the people of the Tehuacán Valley rely heavily on this resource as a supplement to their dietary regimes.
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3.
Mexican markets may be utilized as a tool to trace the history of cultivated plants. Ethnobotanical observations suggest that some of the plants found in the market today are retentions from earlier civilizations. This argument is illustrated by a comparison of the cultivatedCucurbita from caves in the Tehuacán Valley with the cultivars found in the market at the present time.
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Whitaker, T.W., Cutler, H.C. Food plants in a Mexican market. Econ Bot 20, 6–16 (1966). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02861922
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02861922