Lycianthes moziniana (Dunal) Bitter

A Revision of Lycianthes series Meizonodontae
(UC) UC Berkeley/ (XAL) Institute» de Ecologia, Xalapa
Lycianthes moziniana (Dun.) Bitter
Mexico: State of Puebla; Mpio. Chignahuapan; N of Chignahuapan, near town of San Joaquin,
both sides of Barranca El Salto. 7300 ft.
In oak-pin.e woodland, grazed clearing near footpath, leading to seep, W side of Barranca.
Also common in cultivated fields on E slope of barranca, growing with com, beans and
squash. The com is in elote now. Soil brown, dense and clayey. Plants are common, but only in
certain fields and clearings. Some herbicide used in fields here. Perennial herb from storage
root, decumbent to erect. Most plants sterile, the fruit already harvested, but some with mature
fruit. These soft and olive green, at the ends of elongate pedicels, often trailing on the ground.
Informant 1: Alfredo Bihalba and his mother in law. Use: Edible fruit. Eaten raw. Mature when
green and soft. The plants used to be much more common. They think it is disappearing due to
cultivation and weeding (the plow cuts the root). Land has been in family for generations.
Indigenous name: "la chichi", "Mexicana" name (Aztec).
Informant 2: Two men walking along path. Use: Edible fruit. Indiginous name: "las chichitas"
Informant 3: Children of another family who helped me find fruit. Use: They cook the fruit,
because a local health official has told them not to eat anything out of the field without cooking
it first. Indiginous name: "la chichi"
Ellen Dean 300	27 Oct 1991
with Thomas Starbuck
Fieldwork supported by grants and fellowships from:
the National Science Foundation, Explorer's Club, Sigma Xi, Hardman Foundation, Tinker
Foundation, and UC Berkeley
01424549