Traditional knowledge about mushrooms in a Nahua community in the state of Tlaxcala, México

Abstract

This paper describes the traditional mycological knowledge of the Nahua of San Isidro Buensuceso, on the slopes of La Malinche Volcano National Park, in the state of Tlaxcala, México. The results described in this paper were obtained through interviews with villagers selected at random; a free-listing technique was used to determine the cultural significance of the mushrooms of the region. A total of 48 species, which had 65 Náhuatl names and 40 in Spanish, were identified. Although San Isidro villagers consider mushrooms to be a natural resource mainly used for food, they also use them for medicine, insecticides and trade. This paper presents traditional information on the morphology, ecology, fenology and consistency of the mushrooms found around San Isidro. It proposes that, from a cultural perspective, Gomphus flocossus, Ramaria spp. and Boletus spp. are the most important species of the region.

• Ethnomycology
• La Malinche National Park
• Nahua
• traditional uses of fungi
• wild mushrooms

We greatly appreciate the helpful comments by Dr. Alejandro Casas Fernández of the Instituto de Ecología, Campus Morelia, Michoacan. We also thank Florencia García for the first English translation and Gundi Jeffrey for her help with editing and revising that translation. Translation of Náhuatl names was supported by María Rosario Xochitiotzin, a specialist in lingustics. We also are grateful to Lorenza Pérez Flores, Don Pánfilo and all the residents of San Isidro, who made this paper possible. We also wish to thank Coordinación General de Ecología of Tlaxcala for its support for this research in Malinche National Park. This study was supported by a grant of CONACYT, with additional financing from PROMEP/UATLAX-29.