Agriculture and Human Values 21: 329346, 2004. 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

Totonac homegardens and natural resources in Veracruz, Mexico*

Ana Lid Del Angel-Perez1 and Martn Alfonso Mendoza B.2
1 2

Campo Experimental Cotaxtla, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones, Forestales y Agropecuarias, Mexico; Colegio de Postgraduados, Veracruz, Mexico

Accepted in revised form February 20, 2004

Abstract. The Totonac homegarden is a traditionally designed agroecosystem mixing different elements, such as cultivated and wild plants, and livestock. Our objective was to understand the role and importance of homegardens as a strategy for subsistence and natural resources management. Anthropological eldwork was carried out in Coxquihui, Veracruz, Mexico, a Totonac community. Conventional sampling using a questionnaire yielded a sample of 40 individuals, each representing a family group. Personal interviews, life stories, observations, and eld transects enriched survey information. Fieldwork permitted identication of four types of Totonac homegardens: backyards, cropping elds, acahuales or fallow elds, and fences or eld edges. Each of these gardens yields an array of products and services important for several cultural roles and natural resource management aims. Totonacs see land as the dominant and most critical resource. A great deal of terrain is steeply sloped and soils are poor. Homegardens play a key role in a production system that minimizes these site limitations, striking a balance between resource maintenance and subsistence needs. Their functions are ecological, to foster a multistrata vegetation cover, and a continuous supply of organic matter to the soil; economic, serving as living storehouses where diverse products (food, timber, rewood, forage, animals, ceremonial supplies, medicinal products), are kept through the annual cycle; and social, performing various social roles such as growing medicinal, ritual, and edible plants, thus supporting beliefs and culture continuity. Studies like this contribute to a better understanding of Totonac culture and native ecology, and give ideas for a better land management. Key words: Backyard orchards, Family reproduction, Homegardens, Indigenous ecology, Natural resource conservation Ana Lid Del Angel-Perez is a BS Social Anthropology, Universidad Veracruzana (1986), MS Social Anthropol ogy, Universidad Iberoamericana (1991), and PhD Tropical Agroecosistems, Colegio de Posgraduados (1999). Investigador Titular del Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agrcolas y Pecuarias since 1982. Interests are in agricultural production systems, social organization, and economics of peasant groups and cattle growers. Dr. Del Angel-Perez is a Professor at Escuela de Antropologa, Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Mexico (1988), Food Technology, Universidad Iberoamericana (1988), Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia de la Universidad Veracruzana (199093), and Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (1994). Scientic produc tion includes papers in national and international journals, book chapters, technical materials, lectures, and contributions in congress proceedings. Martn Alfonso Mendoza Briseno is a BS in Ag. Engineering, Escuela Nacional de Agricultura (1976), Master of Science in ForestResources, University of Washington (1979), and Doctor of Philosophy in Forest Resources, University of Idaho (1985). He worked for Direccion General para el Desarrollo Forestal, Secretara de Agricul tura y Ganadera (19751976), professor, Universidad Autonoma Chapingo (19761980), and Colegio de Post graduados (since 1980). Interests are in forests, natural resources, and land use. Introduction Mexican tropical lands are known for their rich diversity in agroecosystems. One of these, worthy of
*Supplement to special issue Native Food Production Knowledge Systems and Practices: Alternative Values and Outcomes (Agriculture and Human Values, Volume 21, Nos. 23, 2004).

in-depth study, is the homegarden, which is of enormous importance to family reproduction. The gardens end is to complement the family group needs for selfconsumption of food and materials. Occasionally, they also contribute with produce to sell at local markets. Cash income from the garden is a vital support when sales of cash crops fall short (Anderson, 1993; Stuart, 1993). Food sharing is also an important and familiar

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Ana Lid Del Angel-Perez and Martn Alfonso Mendoza grown in the orchard and the gradual vanishing of genetic stocks of native species, which is attributed to the loss of traditional knowledge and cultural traits (Rico-Gray et al., 1990; Caballero, 1992; Anderson, 1993; Herrera-Castro et al., 1993; Ogata, 1993; Ortega et al., 1993; Stuart, 1993; Alvarez and Horne, 1997). Javanese homegardens deserve special attention. Freeman and Frecke (1984) gave a retrospective review on O. Soemarwotos work about pekarangan, the longrun stage of a multi-storied tropical garden. Some pekarangan are centuries old, though most land is either under cultivation, tegal (early fallow), talun (late fallow), or campuran (harvesting and establishing semimixed garden) stages. A few campur parcels may not be cleared back for cultivation but left to mature into a multistoried permanent structure known as pekarangan. This system complements cashcrops intensively cultivated on at lands. The Javanese hillside multi-storied system provides up to a third of household cash income, while atland crops and animal products account for the rest. Up to 40% of income comes from sales of products raised by women. The better off families tend to move away from homegardening. The poorer families hold on to their gardens and their calorie dependence from them may reach 44%, including 32% of protein ingestion. Total dependence from the garden for subsistence is unfeasible, though it might be an outcome from increasing poverty. In contrast to Asian homegardens, precious little work has been done on Totonac homegardens, hence, this research came about to characterize the main classes of Totonac homegardens, and analyze their value as survival strategies and efcacy in land management in Coxquihui, a characteristic Totonac community in Veracruz, Mexico.

behavior among traditional homegardeners. Food sharing slightly diminishes but remains strong after cultural change and government development programs (Gurven et al., 2002). Homegardens are orchards characterized by their use of local knowledge about how to take advantage of tropical environmental features like biological diversity, fast regeneration during secondary succession, and the frequent presence of woodlands. Their features do not permit the consideration of homegardens as commercial agriculture, mainly because the garden is made up of species chosen on a one-to-one basis, and not as part of a systematic, homogeneous scheme (Colfer et al., 1988). In the garden, plants depend more on the natural environment, and less on the farmers management (Cramb, 1989). Hence, supercially, harvest appears similar to an extractive activity. Farmers apply only a small amount of commercial inputs, because practices are intended to mimic natural processes (Salam et al., 1994). This apparent similarity to natural ecosystems has given homegardens a certain credibility as a low environmental impact alternative for managing land resources, at least judged in terms of biodiversity (Altieri, 2002). A number of studies indicate that homegardens have had important historic roles in tropical countries, as well as in Mesoamerican cultures (Haen, 2002; Lucero, 2002). Such roles include domestication and conservation of species diversity, and for that, these orchards have become valuable genetic pools storing materials adapted to local conditions (Del Angel, 1991; Jimenez-Osornio, 1994). High diversity in homegarden species composition follows a conscious strategy to attain high efciency in resource use (Salam et al., 1994), and it represents an outstanding form of in situ biodiversity conservation (Stuart 1993). Homegardens are also considered agroforestry production systems (Ramachandran, 1997); as such, these systems are responding to pressure for food by an everincreasing population, diminishing land resources, capital, labor, and time (Salam et al., 1994; Holden et al., 1996). That is, they are reproductive strategies of diverse aims suitable for scenarios where resources are constrained by numerous limitations. These production systems portray a peculiar combination of culture, social, and natural capital, all of them tightly intertwined (Berkes and Folke, 1993; Goodenough, 2002), and fullling important services to the economy of rural communities, to the ecosystem, and, in the end, to society (Gomez-Pompa and Kaus, 1990; Gliessman, 1990). A number of previous studies report on homegardens of Mexico (Altieri, 2002; Toledo, 2003) and southeast Asia (Freeman and Fricke, 1984). Some of these describe orchards in backyards, while others attempt to document a trend in reduction of the number of species

Location of the study case Totonacs occupy a geographic area stretching from the Puebla portion of Sierra Madre Oriental, down into the Gulf of Mexicos coastal plains in central and northern Veracruz. Coxquihui rests at the piedmont of the mountainous portion of Totonacapan, the Totonac territory (see Figure 1). Ample public recognition as an important Totonac community, and widespread observance of tradition and cultural practices make Coxquihui a good choice as a case study. Coxquihui is a part of the Tecolutla river basin, within the northern gulf coastal plain physiographic province. The village is placed on the east slope of a hill, at 300 m elevation. Climate is coded as AW 2"(e), meaning warm, subhumid, with summer rainfall reaching up to 2110 mm per year. Some 54% of precipitation falls between June and September (Arias, 1994);

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the rain season; Taputal and Macastac are two of the most important seasonal streams. Water is also available from a number of wells. Regional landscape features a small colonial town, surrounded by groups of houses, each group inhabited by a single extended family. Houses are separated by patios and backyards. Each housing complex is surrounded by orchards and woods. Small cultivated plots are mostly in the outskirts of the populated portion of Coxquihui. Ownership averages 4.4 ha per household, including commercial agriculture parcels. There is no explicit or apparent boundary in between properties nor from woodlands.
Figure 1. Region of study case.

Methods meanwhile, the dry season may last from 46 months (Garca, 1988). Mean annual temperature is 24 C, while extreme temperatures go from a January minimum of 7 C, up to a maximum of 42 C in May. Dominant winds come from the north or northeast, and tend to be weak (INEGI, 1995a). Primary vegetation types include medium and low subtropical evergreen forests. Composition is dominated by fast growing and economically valuable tree species like cedro rojo (western red cedar), ojite or ramon, chaca, and jonote or zapote chico (Appendix 1 contains the list of scientic names). Today, primary forest is practically nonexistent. Secondary forest regrowth known as acahual (INEGI, 1995a), has replaced the original cover in those small areas free from cultivation. Cultivated plots are irregularly shaped elds with slope ranging from 10% to 40%. Soil types include pellic vertisol, calcic regosol, calcic feozem, and rendzina. Pellic vertizol is the most common soil type. It is characterized by a dark gray color, a heavy A horizon with silty or loamy texture, slightly acid pH. Vertisols occupy the more gentle slopes. Management of these soils involves special needs because they tend to compact when dry, and expand when wet. Regosol is the second most frequent soil type. It is a younger type of soil, not fully developed. Its most common color is a brownish gray or yellow. Texture is silty loam, and pH is lightly acid or alkaline. Rendzina is a type of soil containing large amount of calcareous material (INEGI, 1995a). Land features as described, weather, slope, and soil type, together with production systems, and land uses combine to create an erosion risk in the range of medium to high (Uresti, 1992). Coxquihui municipality is crossed by Laxaxapan river, a tributary to Tecolupan or Chumatlan river. The Cozan creek, a permanent stream, also runs through this region. A number of seasonal streams ow during Our research is supported by anthropological eldwork. We took from anthropology and ethnography a number of tools such as interviews, life histories, and direct observation. They helped us shape a consistent story about connections between culture in an ethnic group, and their production systems. These methodological tools follow similar arguments as in Jacobs-Huey (2002). Consistency with collateral support and physical evidence help in controlling bias while maintaining the high quality and integrity of information gathered through ethnographical work (Salzman, 2002). Reliability of ethnographic methods is widely known even for studies of modern organizations (Goodenough, 2002). A survey questionnaire was applied to a conventional mixed sample. Open and closed questions were asked. This survey was the main source of quantitative information about current homegardens, their features, and components, as well as information about social relationships at a synchronic level. Although the survey is an effective research tool, it only provided a static depiction of processes, and for that reason we choose to back up survey results with data collected using other tools such as life histories, observations, and eld transects. The sample size was 40 individuals, one per household. This is a reasonable amount relative to the nite number of households in the locality, regardless of population size or number of farms. The decision to have the household as study unit stems from the fact that land is the main support of these peoples livelihood. Also, previous visits revealed there is a homegarden in each household. Moreover, an extended family group dwells in each household, and shares the use of available resources, including outputs from the orchard. Ofcial records indicate that 50% of families live as groups of extended families. Two or more families share the same premises, allowing up to three generations to live under the same roof (INEGI, 1995b).

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Table 1. Spaces and types of homegarden in Coxquihui, Veracruz, Mexico, 2000. Space Backyard Acahual Cropping eld Fences Found % 100 34 75 63 No. species 223 55 40 11

There is also a clear gender distinction regarding resource management, making it necessary to enrich survey responses with additional sources of information. The constant repetition of data in survey responses suggests that sample size was adequate, and there was little to be gained in adding more samples. The complementary part of the eldwork was made up of interviews and life stories from a selected group of informants. These activities yielded in-depth information about issues and concerns and about dynamic trends. Informants were chosen to include three different generations from the community. The purpose here was to build qualitative approximations to explain social and individual processes and phenomena. This was done by focusing on the internal experience of those individuals who are active participants in the local scenario. In a way, it can be said that these means were a venue to build a perception about the time and space of human experience. The outcome was an oral eyewitness account of a systematized portion of reality, and although it was an individual experience, it portrays the same portion of the shared collective experience, as corroborated by validation or addition of information of independent sources (Aceves, 1998). These latter sources involved secondary information from ofcial institutions, as well as previous research in the region. Types of homegarden Given that terrain, soil quality, and amount of available land per family tightly constrain land use allocation, homegardens can only use spaces where commercial agriculture is not feasible. These include backyards, boundaries between elds, acahuales or fallow elds, and scattered spots within cropping elds. It is then logical to expect ample divergence between production in homegardens, and production in commercial cropping elds, and even to nd differences between individual plants of the same species placed in different corners of the garden or in different types of garden. We found four types of homegardens in Coxquihui: backyard orchards that use patios and spaces around houses; acahuales, or fallow eld orchards; cropping eld orchards, meaning scattered tolerated or introduced trees, shrubs, and herbs interspersed among cash crops, such as corn and beans, in commercially cultivated elds; and nally, orchards that function as fences or boundaries among cropping elds (Table 1). The four kinds of homegardens share similar attributes regarding its function as means for survival of the rural population. One of these functions is to conserve wild species by mixing them with cultivated varieties. Totonac homegardens are valuable because of social, cultural, and ecologic aspects, and not only for economic reasons.

Studied homegardens occupy marginal communal spaces, those unsuitable for commercial agriculture. Their management is possible thanks to effective transmission of knowledge between generations about interactions seen in the forest. Bunning and Hill (1996) described a similar feature for homegardens in the Andes. Outputs from the garden become especially valuable in those unexpected cases of commercial agriculture failure, besides serving as a year-round living storehouses keeping goods that sustain Totonac daily life (Del Angel, 1999). Natural resprouting of secondary vegetation is normally seen in all four types of gardens, so in the end there is a combined cover of cultivated and wild plants, forming a complex biomass structure that holds consumption and economic values. The orchard structure is made up of canopy layers that cover the ground at different heights. Litterfall creates a mulch of organic matter that gradually degrades and incorporates into the soil structure, helping improve soil qualities like fertility, water retention, aeration, and diversity of soil biota. Some orchards, particularly those in patios and acahuales, maintain the appearance of woods because of the rich array of species they maintain. Interviews revealed that farmers ignore the names, use, and tending needs of most of those species; they only recognize species with specic benets, or material or intangible utility. The Appendix lists species identied by interviewees. Disregard for names or uses of species is more acute in individuals younger than 40 years old, and this is explained by cultural changes in preferences about food, occupation, health, and rites. This trend points to a concern about the evident loss of traditional knowledge about nature and its management. Orchards in the backyard Backyard gardens are the most studied of all homegardens. They are referred to as homegarden, patio orchard, or mixed tropical orchard system. Coxquihuis version of the backyard orchard is a small scale but high productivity scheme. Numerous plant and animal products ow out of the garden year around, usually in amounts over and above the needs of the family group. Generally, backyard gardens are adjacent to dwellings.

Totonac homegardens and natural resources As depicted in other tropical places by Ninez (1987), Price (1991), and Caballero (1992), Coxquihuis gardens involve a complex set of domesticated and semi-domesticated plants, most of them perennials and semi-perennials. These features transform the backyard into a special reserve where species aptly t for local environments subsist, and are available to help support nutritional and economic needs of Totonacs whenever agricultural yields fall short due to erratic weather extremes. Diversity in the backyard is a product of mixing species at different strata, in a casual, apparently random arrangement: forbs, shrubs, vines, and trees (Clawson, 1985). There are no regular patterns, blocks, rows, or beds for each species or stages of development (Figure 2). This chaotic arrangement is a conscious decision by the farmer, who follows natural patterns he has observed. Clearly, the appearance of disregard about cultivation is accidental; the farmer follows detailed cultural regimes centered on selection by weeding out undesirable individuals, while tolerating and protecting target species, especially those with multiple uses. For Totonac farmers, their backyard is an extension of the forest, and that explains their landscaping criteria. Backyards are places to reproduce wild species brought in from the forest, mainly condiments and medicinal and ritual plants. In a way, this tradition preserves species that are endangered by the relentless deforestation of natural areas. Additionally, backyard orchards are spaces devoted to experimentation, though each gender uses it differently. Male farmers like to test and adapt exotic plants, either by seeds or cuttings. When successful, these species are introduced full scale into commercial cropping elds. Meanwhile, females adapt wild species from the forest. This was also noticed by Bunning and Hill (1996) in Asia and the Andes. In this view, the backyard can be seen as a microenvironment created to

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test coexistence of species with multiple uses and diverse origins. Orchard composition Patio orchards in Coxquihui are multistrata systems containing at least 223 species of known utility to Totonacs. The main components are listed in Table 2. The upper canopy is formed with fruit trees, ne timber species, softwoods, and some trees with high economic value, such as pimienta (black pepper), and hule (rubber trees); their harvest is traded in the local market place. Fruit trees are the most abundant kind of tree in this canopy stratum, as seen in those orchards visited, which reects the economic value these trees have, and the strategic importance of their fruits in time of need, since, besides being used by the farmers family itself, they are easily sold in the towns plaza. Many of the backyard plants have multiple uses. They can offer fruit, wood, fuel, and environmental services. At ground level, the orchard is made up of medicinal and ritual plants, though, most of them are kept on sidewalks and at front facades of living quarters where they are at hand for tending purposes by women, who traditionally have the responsibility for backyard gardens. Interest in growing medicinal and ritual plants shows a sign of the current state of traditional cultural traits, and diverse religious practices and magic crafts. On the other hand, limited access and high cost of medical services and pharmaceutical products, and because of the relative isolation from urban centers, a greater role for traditional medicinal practices is to be expected. Similarly, reliance on wood for construction and fuel, as well as the intense use of local materials are choices mandated by poor communications with the urban market place. A selected list of species found among the underbrush of the backyard follow: Medicinal plants: sabila, hierbabuena (spearmint), al baca, albahacar, oregano, estaate, rosa de Castilla,
Table 2. Components in backyard gardens, and average number of species per family in Coxquihui, Veracruz, Mexico, 2000. Component Fruit trees Timber Medicinal Condiment Ornamental Ritual Other Total 53 11 46 24 39 20 30 Average/family 16 2 6 6 7 3 5

Figure 2. A characteristic homegarden.

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Ana Lid Del Angel-Perez and Martn Alfonso Mendoza seem to indicate a purpose to fulll domestic functions rather than economic purposes. A third backyard design can be seen in homes down the slope. The gentler terrain permits, without losing the characteristic multistrata vertical structure, a greater presence of crops like maz (maize), frijol (beans), papaya, or citrus trees like naranja (orange), lima (lime), mandarina, or limon (lemon). These orchards are placed on the landscape as extensions of commercial agriculture, and as such, wild vegetation is no longer important.

cola de caballo, simonillo, gordolobo, lirio blanco, ruda, sauco, zacate limon, zacate chichi, oregano ore jon, epazote zorrillo, hierba dulce, llanten, acoyo, hi guerilla. Ritual plants: or de muerto, moco redondo, nochebuena, mano de leon, jazmn, limonaria, huele de noche, tepejilote, chichicastle, vainilla (vanilla), or de mayo. Ornamentals: ninfa, bugambilia, siempreviva, telefon o, chaya, girasoles, crisantemo, dalia, vara de San Jose, corona de Cristo, gardenia, tulipan, cola de zorra, cundeamor, secapalo, nardo, rosa, siempreviva, copa de oro. Others (edibles): tomillo, mafafa, frijol de arbol, papaya de monte, jamaica, chiltepn, izote, ajonjol, espinoso, cana (sugar cane), frijol de vbora. Appen dix 1 contains a larger set of species not listed here. Backyard orchards follow three different designs. The most important kind is the one with a signicant upper canopy, usually placed on ridge tops, or where the slope is steepest. They are composed of fruit and timber trees, some domestic animals freely wandering, scarce underbrush, and some organic matter production. Male family heads informed that dominant landscape today reects their concern for washout and mud slides prevention, and specically to protect the safety of homes, which are generally built on hillsides. Most vegetation is secondary re-growth because of proximity of the forest covering the higher ground. Vertical arrangement is a mixture of old and relatively large trees, with younger and smaller individuals, shrubs, palms, forbs, and vines underneath. These orchards constitute a suitable habitat for certain wildlife species, a few of them migratory birds, but also including mammals (bats, ant eaters, raccoons, armadillos, squirrels, rabbits, moles, and mice), reptiles (lizards, snakes), batrachians, and arthropods. The large fruits produced from many of the trees in these orchards feed and attract many wild animals. The next variation of the backyard orchard design is one with predominant lower canopy strata, and located in yards of houses in town. Their owners prefer a lifestyle with a certain urban air. They frequently are newcomers who are storekeepers, professionals, and the better skilled labor in town, and so, orchards fulll for them a landscaping role. Upper canopy is sparse, made up of fruit trees like oranges and other citrus varieties, avocados, mangos, and zapotes. Ornamentals form the lower strata, though many times they also have ritual, medicinal, and condiment applications, without changing the main decorative role. Wild plants are considered weeds, and so they are weeded out as soon as they appear. Women can be seen taking constant care of this type of garden. The orchard structure and components

Management of backyard gardens and animals Handling of aerial structure in backyard gardens, such as timber and fruit trees, is quite different from commercial agriculture. Here, success is tied to diversity among species, varieties, ages, and heights. Variety assures an uninterrupted stream of harvest products througout the year to fulll the needs of Totonac lifestyle. Technically, orchard management is simple; it is almost entirely based upon reproducing and developing natural interactions. Domestic animals interfere with plants, unless enclosed or tied up. Pigs and chickens freely roam in the upland backyards, which is interpretable as a certain farmers disregard for the understory vegetation in these orchards dominated by trees. In contrast, backyards in town often have animals raised in cages or enclosed quarters to protect ornamental, medicinal, condiment, and ritual plants. Home-raised livestock acquires greater priority in the farmers view, beyond its market value, because of the difculties in transportation to cities, compounded by customs where the local market is set in the towns plaza once a week only. Most survey respondents expressed higher appreciation for animal husbandry than for the growing of plants for medicinal, ritual, or condiment purposes. This preference follows local food habits, and it is also a natural expression of the convenient way that animals and their products can be exchanged or sold. This is a contrast in respect to the case of orchard produce, which are strongly seasonal, perishable, and compete poorly with commercially grown produce. The latter offer a greater array of choices, are widely offered, and have a longer shelf life. Management focuses on the early stages of tree establishment. At this time, seedlings are selected according to target species. Thinning, weeding, and shade removal are practices that help the development of selected individuals. Mature trees are sometimes pruned. Thinning out undesirable species and planting useful plants is also part of the cultural regime. It is

Totonac homegardens and natural resources usually a male farmer who handles cash crops such as fruit and timber, since local culture casts males as providers of the family group. Besides, masculine labor is seen as better suited for commercial agriculture, than tending the orchard. On the other hand, women, old men, and children handle those species with social and cultural values, as it is the case with condiments, ornamentals, and traditional medicine and ritual plants. Recent years have seen increased involvement of women, and this resulted in a shift on choice of species to cultivate (Gatti and Chenaut, 2002). Nontheless, among Totonacs, there is a strong interaction between generations in handling their homegardens, and this is an effective tradition that permits ethnic knowledge about plants to pass to the new generations. This is also seen in homegardens in Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam (Vines, 2001), except for the fact that Totonac farmers transmit a specic kind of knowledge, males focus on commercial agriculture, while females teach and learn about wild plants, in a way similar to the description in Bunning and Hill (1996), of Asia. This trend is consistent with the more general role of feminine labor (Korantayev, 2003; Mills, 2003). Field work demonstrated that, since ornamental, medicinal, and ritual components in the backyard orchard lack the economic clout of cash crops, women who grow them do so out of mere cultural motivations. Criteria dening which species will be grown convey aesthetic concepts, beliefs, and eating preferences. Feminine knowledge, especially knowledge about use and practical application of plant products is also evident in the choices women make about which plants to grow. The fact that women take care of understory vegetation in the backyard can be seen as a sign that women are the ones that better retain the memory of tradition and culture. Women, then, play important roles in the safekeeping of wild species diversity, as acknowledged by FAO (1997). A similar observation was made by Herrera-Castro et al. (1993), for similar homegardens from Yucatan, Mexico, where conservation of diversity is an outcome of cultural considerations made by an ethnic group. Many of the backyard orchard species with medicinal, food, forage, or ritual uses originated out of wild forest plants. Examples follow: llanten, or de mayo, hierba dulce, pitaya silvestre, huele de noche, or de muerto silvestre, chichicastle, epazote zorrillo, acoyo, tepejilote, zacates, estropajos, puan, zapote chico; zapote negro; zapote mamey, copal, aguacate y aguacatillo, pahua, lilaques, jobo, pichoco, and many other unidentied taxa. It is clear that selection, permanence, or exclusion of backyard species bring about natural implications associated with cultural and economic preferences. Families with deep Totonac roots are able to follow their eating

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patterns and other customs thanks to products they get from plants grown in their backyards. This way, the backyard garden is a living warehouse with the added benet of being capable of producing occasional income. Many times, elements in backyard orchards interfere with one another, prompting the grower to make compromises and choices, as was explained in the case of plant and animal conicts that are handled in ways that discriminate against animals and favor plants, or in the case of overstory species, where there is a compromise favoring multiple use trees (see section Multiple use trees). While it is easy to understand that species grown in backyard orchards are chosen because of explicit applications for their products (as foods, ritual, or medicinal applications, useful materials, or even market pressure to grow exotic plants), no doubt, decisions receive a direct inuence from site potential, soil qualities, and biological interactions. Visual criteria give clues about which plants to hold, and which ones to remove. These criteria are vigor, age, color, pests, diseases, productivity, competition, and importance. Density management addresses light, water, and nutrient competition problems. In addition, density may be allowed to increase, or is forced to decrease in accordance with species utility, and striving to balance the species cultural importance and quality of natural resources. The farmer is expected, for instance, to allow populations of species of little importance to dwindle after thinning, without reaching complete eradication, in the process of protecting and fostering special interest species such as calabaza melon, estropajos, espinoso, or chayote, and papa cimarrona, or papa de indio. Making use of the ample diversity, several species are grown as complements, or to serve as shade or mechanical support for others. For instance, the target species just mentioned may nd physical support by growing upon cojon de gato, pichoco, capuln chatay, or naranja agria. Shade species are handsomely represented by chalahuites. Gliessman et al. (1981) found in some traditional production systems with perennial crops in Mexico, that materials input and output balance is similar to the rate found in comparable natural systems. The thrifty demand of external resources suggests a plausible stable output ow.

Acahual orchards Totonacs have met their basic needs for generations from local natural resources. They also are heirs of an ancient culture evolved in constant interaction with the environment. Todays farmers possess a wealth of knowledge from the constant observation of natural phenomena, trial and error testing. Many traditional

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Ana Lid Del Angel-Perez and Martn Alfonso Mendoza important species include cedro (Western red cedar), caoba (mahogany), laurel, ojite, guanabana, anona, zapotes, aguacate criollo and pahua, hule (rubber), pimienta (black pepper), and capulines (Evangelista and Mendoza, 1987) (Appendix 1 lists other species). Management of acahual orchards Acahual is a multi-strata forest stand functioning as a homegarden. We found them in 34% of sampled households. Its average size is 12 ha, with a mean age of 512 years. According to survey respondents, fallow periods have shortened recently because of faster decline in fertility while cropping, and also because of population growth and consequent increases in claims for land for homesteading. Acahuales recently cleared for cropping are approaching the ve year lower age boundary limit. Partial management of secondary vegetation regrowth provides a constant stream of outputs: fruits, ne and industrial grade timbers, rewood, fodder, edible owers, and diverse produce important in Totonac cultural life as ornamentals, medical, and ritual supplies. Comparing acahual with commercial agriculture, acahual is a system that follows successional patterns. Moreover, acahual preserves a diversity of useful species yielding an abundance of products and services with use or trade values, or both, besides improving the sites worthiness with species that possess multiple uses and interests (see Table 2). Selectively thinning out undesirable individuals is a means to open up ground in order to introduce target species, especially those with multiple applications. Acahual enrichment practices increase land value through addition of protable species, and introduces ecological functions to the site, such as permitting a forest cover to develop and protect soil against erosion, adding organic matter in a continuous fashion, and supporting cultural values by growing those species required to support material and mysticalcultural expressions. On top of these ideas, survey respondents explained that timber and fruit trees are considered as money saved for future eventualities, and old age retirement. Schematically, the acahual system is an anthropogenic disturbance that, in the long run, transforms the original landscape. Gomez-Pompa, and Kaus (1990) stress that acahuales are spaces fullling a double function: ecological, in bringing back soil fertility after several cycles of cultivation, and an economical, through maintaining multiple use species. Coxquihui farmers slash and burn overstory trees, but retain the living stumps of desired species to speed up crown closure. In the case of stands with no overstory canopy, mid-layer trees and shrubs are clearcut

production systems and practices pursuing the yield of goods and services from nature display a certain skill to sustain productivity and biodiversity for extended periods of time (Gomez-Pompa and Kaus, 1990), not only in cropping elds, but also on those sites where poor soil fertility forces periodic fallow. Such is the case of acahuales, oldelds where Totonacs can satisfy cultural and economic needs, as well as intangible values. Acahuales form an agricultural system involving a felling-slashing-burning-cropping-fallow sequence. The rst step consists of clearing a plot in the woods, felling the larger trees, followed by slashing all of the underbrush and burning the slash during the dry season. In this way, the site will be ready for planting by the time of the early rains of June. Fire consumes only a part of the fuel load. Charcoal and ashes mix with remaining litter and organic matter to form a kind of soil complement. Ash increases favorable pH levels in the soil and provides nutrients. At the same time, organic matter breaks down and gives some additional nutrients. Later on, a crop will be grown a number of times until fertility decline curtails yields drastically by diminishing nutrient concentration, and soil pH returning to its previous acidity. Weed competition also intensies through time to the point where weeding benets no longer justify the cost (Ricker and Daly, 1998). This skillful mixture of articial and natural forest regeneration allows Totonacs to take advantage of acahuals diversity through partial protection to, and enrichment of secondary vegetation. Useful species like vanilla, rubber, and mango are broadcast seeded or planted to enrich acahual composition. Acahual is also a reservoir of fruit, edible owers, forage, timber, rewood, and species that provide support and shade to other useful plants that need them (Del Angel, 1999). Hence, acahual is more than a scheme to reclaim degraded land, it is also a fully edged and sustainable production system on its own merits (Goodenough, 2002), a system bordering between the wild and the tame, but landscaped as a homegarden. Acahual orchard composition The most important components in acahuales are trees for rewood, which amount to 12 species. There are also 16 species of fruit trees and 17 timber trees. Most species are seral pioneers that were retained since the time of the felling and slashing, or even before that, from the cropping stage. Some others have merited planting because of their importance as fruit or timber producers. Some examples of species typical of these orchards are papaya de monte, collarcillo, barbasco, trompetilla, mozote blanco, acoyo, palma, and izote. Economically

Totonac homegardens and natural resources and burned, except individuals of target species, which are wrapped up and protected from the effect of re. Burning is not always the procedure for slash disposal.

337

Orchards in cropping elds Cropping eld orchards are those having valuable species naturally sprouted or hand planted in between rows of the main crop. Their presence is associated with the growing of basic crops, and sometimes they even show up in commercial citrus orchards or pepper plantations on hilly ground. They are also grown to take advantage of spots where the main crop failed, or planted in between rows or in the space separating individual plants, with the idea of exploiting temporarily idle ground. The orchard is made up of a mixture of cultivated species with wild plants brought in by succession. The latter ones can be either forbs or multiple use trees (see Table 3). These were protected because they would perish without human intervention. The value of wild components can be a commercial one, or a use value. Up to 70% of interviewees admitted having this type of homegarden, and they further explained that their agricultural practices have traditional inclinations, and that site conditions inuence their choice of cultivation technology. Regularly, the grower starts the rst year after slash and burn with a cycle of corn and beans. Establishment of incoming wild individuals is gradually permitted. Forbs are the earliest components sought, though trees and shrubs will dominate the latter years orchard composition. Weeding by hand or machete will release target individuals, spontaneous or planted. Cropping eld orchard composition Composition and horizontal arrangement do not follow xed geometric patterns. Type and amount of species vary annually or seasonally in response to weather, market, or self-consumption needs; it could even change from one farmer generation to the next because of changes in personal preferences about food. Table 3 shows useful plant totals in the cropping eld orchard, which add up to 44 species.

In elds with basic crops or plantations, the planting of introduced species and the partial retention of secondary vegetation increases soil cover and the systems economic value. Choice of species convey cultural implications, as well as socioeconomic and ecological effects through their consequences on food preferences, income opportunities, and soil conservation. Gliessman (1990) and Ramachandran (1997) identied two forms of interaction in plantations: the economic one, where the main crop is the basis for family security and economy; and the ecological interaction, because all these species have created a protective foliage canopy that favors soil conservation and fertility. Orchards in basic crop elds show a vertical structure with young and short trees and forbs. A number of vegetables, tubercles, fruits, and timber trees show up in these orchards, though the herbal component is by far the dominant one. In the case of plantations, orchards are made up of multiple associations with herbs and shrubs. Wild secondary vegetation tolerated in cropping elds (Table 3) is important to Totonac lifestyle. Regularly, two corn crops are grown in a year, the rain season crop, and the winter crop or tonalmil. White or colored corn is seeded rst and other annual crops are seeded in between afterwards. They include frijol negro (beans), frijol cuerno, calabazas (squash), cebollas moradas, rojas, blancas (onions), chiles, camote, and tomate (tomato). Wild species sprout and form the orchard understory at the onset of rains (June); so, herbicides need to be avoided at this time. Important wild useful plants are chapagua, mess, chiltepn, cilantro, tomatillos, quelites, acoyo, xonacate, hierba mora, verdolaga. Multiple use trees are induced at higher strata (see Table 4). They produce fruit, rewood, and structural timbers. Examples: zapote chico, aguacate (avocado), pahuas, anonas, capuln, guayaba (guava), chatay, citrus trees, ciruela, and mangos. Pimienta (pepper), and timbers such as cedro, laurel, caoba, and chijol are also present.

Cropping eld orchard cultivation There are, on average, 16 trees per hectare in this type of homegarden. They are rather short and young trees because trees over 10 m tall are felled, except black pepper and timber trees. Very large trees are prone to windthrow and slides during the rain season. Continuous presence of advanced regeneration of at least 24 m tall of desired species is fostered to take over space freed whenever the larger trees are blown or felled down. Challenger (1998), explains that this cause of mortality is predisposed by the steepness of the ground. Felling of risk trees occurs between Sep-

Table 3. Average useful species in cropping elds, Coxquihui, Veracruz, Mexico, 2000. Total orchard Herbs Shrubs Trees Total 8 2 4 14 Wild species 6 1 2 9 Planted species 2 1 2 5

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Ana Lid Del Angel-Perez and Martn Alfonso Mendoza

Table 4. Continued. Firewood Flowers Fodder

Table 4. Multiple use trees in homegardens in Coxquihui, Veracruz, Mexico, 2000. Firewood Flowers Fodder

Resin

Local name

Others

Wood

Fruits

Aguacate Aguacatillo Anona Avalo Cafe Caimito Caoba Capuln (Conostegia) Capuln (Miconia) Capuln comestible Capulincillo Cedro Ciruela Cocuite Cojon de gato Copal Coyol Chabacano Chaca Chalahuite Chijol Chinini Chirimoya Chote Durazno Encino blanco Encino rojo Espino Espino blanco Frijolillo Guanabana Guaya Guayabo Guazima Habilla Higuera arbol Higuera injerto Hule Humo Jcara,guiro Jobo Laurel blanco Lilaque Lima de chichi Limon Limon agrio Maicillo Mandarina Mango criollo Mango manila Mango petacon Moral

x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x

x x x x x x x x

x x x x

x x x x

x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x

x x x

Moral comestible Naranja Naranja agria Ojite Orejon Pahua Palo de agua Palo de rosa Pichoco Pimienta Pinon Primavera Sauce Tamarindo Tarro Tepetomate Toronja Zapote cabello Zapote chico Zapote domingo Zapote mamey Zapote mante Zapote Negro Zapote nino

x x x x x

x x x x

x x x

x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x

Resin x

Local name

x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x

Others includes uses such as ornamental, medicinal, shade and night bunk for domestic birds.

x x x

x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x

tember and December, so to escape both summer rainstorms and winter northern wind gusts. The farmers objective, clearly, is to prevent soil loss due to mudslides, and anticipate gully formation. Large tree felling is a practice resulting from farmers observation about scattered trees susceptible to unusual weather damage, and the serious consequences of these events. They are also aware that extended root systems of large trees constrain crop root development. Growers consider that litter fall improves soil conditions, creates a mulch cover, and helps retain humidity. According to Price (1991), litter output and partial harvesting practices promote elevated levels of organic matter in the soil, as well as water percolation, and nutrient cycling. Thinning, weeding, and tending practices do indicate a degree of empirical understanding about competition and dynamics of incoming and outgoing species. There is even an idea that certain species can be used as shade or as support for other plants. The joint cultivation of annual crops with forest species develops a multi-strata cover. The added effect

Others x x x x x x x x x x x

Wood

Fruits

Totonac homegardens and natural resources of minimum or no tillage helps conserve soils on slopes. Scattered presence of trees inside cropping elds is partially aimed at grabbing soil sediments, and reducing sediment transport during summer storms. These techniques underline Totonac farmers intentions to increase resource efciency, time, space, labor, and budget; that is to say, there is an economic interaction in the form of assurances about food and income security. Cultivation practices also make it clear there is an ecological interaction too, as evidenced by the continuous soil cover mitigating soil erosion and helping site fertility through organic matter input (Evangelista and Mendoza, 1987; Gliessman, 1990; Del Angel, 1999). Fence orchard management

339

Orchards as fences and eld borderlines Edges of cropping elds and pastures are marked by strips of planted trees of short height, surrounded by natural vegetation (trees, shrubs, forbs, annual or perennial grasses). They perform an array of functions, such as separating elds, facilitating crop rotation, excluding animals, and harvest of fruits, rewood, round wood, fodder, and foods. They also act as windbreaks and stabilize slopes, cuts, and lls. Challenger (1998) admits that living fences are not a traditional indigenous practice. He offers three tentative explanations about its chronology and number of species: (1) Fence orchards started during the Spanish colony as windbreaks in windy regions; (2) They are a postcolonial practice to produce food, fuel, medicinal products, etc., or else, (3) they are structures in a terracing design, and their purpose is to use plant root networks to grab and hold sediments. Totonacs have adapted use and function of fences to grow multiple use trees, and produce fruit, ne timbers, rewood, edible owers, forage, and provide protection to shrubs and herbs for fodder. At the same time, these trees serve as a barrier to restrain animal movements, preventing cows, sheep, and pigs from entering cultivated elds in at terrain. Meanwhile, in steep terrain, roots from these living fences serve as erosion control (Del Angel, 1999). Fence orchard composition We found 13 important species: chaca, cocuite, cedro (cedar), pichoco, jobo, guazima, chote, caoba (mahogany), encino (oak), aguacates (avocado), izote, crucetas, nopal (prickly pear). Other overstory species include higuera injerto, capuln, caoba, and lilaque. Diverse taxa form the understory: acoyo, quelites, mozote, huele de noche, zacate no (grass). Appendix 1 lists species not mentioned here.

The key elements are trees of low height planted by means of poles larger than 2 m long and placed at regular spacings in a row. These stakes quickly develop roots and get fully established. Sprouting of secondary vegetation, mainly trees and shrubs suitable for timber or rewood, complete the fence. Pruning is occasionally practiced on some fence orchards. Pruning intends to clear out space for transit purposes and seldom to induce production of better fruits; also, pruning is a means to harvest forage, posts, rewood, or vegetative cuttings. Living trees also hold barbed wire when needed. A function unintended by their creators, though mentioned by Challenger (1998) for English and Mexican instances, is the role of fence orchards as wildlife corridors that provide connectivity to larger forested blocks. Through these vegetated lanes transit small species such as rodents, reptiles, bats, and birds, so populations in separated stands can exchange genes and habitat resources, and increase tness and survival.

Multiple use trees Multiple use trees play an important role in composition and structure of Totonac homegardens and constitute the most visible landscape element. They are especially abundant because of the important economic (self consumption and cash income), ecological, and sociocultural services and products they supply to their owners (Nair, 1989; Gliessman, 1990; Gomez-Pompa and Kaus, 1990; Ramachandran,1997). Traditional farming in India (Dogra, 1983) also involves multiple use trees as a fundamental component of a way to look at agriculture without the xed framework of nite cropping elds subject to cyclic cultivation regimes. Many Indu systems consider trees and animals a required complement of regular herbaceous crops. Totonacs greatly appreciate the several roles fullled by multiple use trees within backyard orchards, acahuales, cropping eld orchards, and living fences. The obvious one is the intrinsic utility their products have: wood, fuel, pods, forage, edible owers, resins, gums, medicinal products, honey, and others. There is a keen awareness about other intangible benets that involve a service or a human welfare contribution, for instance, shade for delicate plants or animals, moderation of temperature, humidity, wind, and extreme weather conditions, or providing a propitious environment for wildlife habitat and backyard animal husbandry. Property markers are one more application of fence orchards.

340

Ana Lid Del Angel-Perez and Martn Alfonso Mendoza attributes to ranching and agriculture land clearing the greatest effect on Latin Americas deforestation; ranching being the larger factor in forest borderline retreat. Above all, it is pertinent to consider the occasional inclination of governments to privatize sensitive areas and disregard its responsibility for public goods such as environmental services (Pretty, 2002) as explanation for Mexican conditions leading to high tropical deforestation rates (Roman-Cuesta et al., 2004). Legislation that permits local residents to stay and use land resources from legally protected areas, as it is today in Mexico, leads to a reduction of local residents welfare because of the regulatory impact on their land management choices (Colchester, 1997; Gomez Pompa, 1998). A reduced forest cover evidently means a lowering of resource potential to fulll use intentions that a community may pursue as part of a survival strategy. Totonacs are painfully aware of deforestation consequences on natural resources degradation. The problem is seen rst hand as signs of diminished land productivity, soil erosion, production cost increases, and more serious pest and disease problems. Even longer drought seasons are pegged to the loss of forests. Totonacs have learned about erosion by observing clues like root exposure, displaced sediments, stone and rock outcrops, and correlation between erosion and reduced yields. Informants gave a number of explanations, like combined rainfall and topography (15%), surface runoff, topography, type of crop, and cropping regime (55%). June, July, September, and October, the season of highest rainfall concentration, were the months most interviewees reported seeing the greatest danger of erosion. Sheet erosion, known as lavado de suelo (soil washout), is the most recognized form of soil loss (60% of responses). Environmental problems lead to a constant search for solutions through application and improvement of traditional production practices that farmers felt are needed to obtain those goods the family may consume, as well as sustain ecological services. Since soil loss on broken ground is perceived as the most serious hazard, Totonacs have sought to control erosion by retaining a continuous canopy cover, manipulation of secondary vegetation, seasonal crop rotation, litter mulching, and minimum or no tillage. The scheme is similar to other highly efcient traditional systems like those in India (Dogra, 1983), but Totonac informants admit a visible decline anywhere from 30% to 45% in fertility for the last 30 years. Any process that results in a ow of organic materials to incorporate in the soil is of interest to Totonac farmers. Secondary vegetation is not seen as weeds, but carefully permitted to form a multi-strata canopy among cultivated plants. No tillage is a regime

As far as environmental awareness go, Totonac farmers focus mainly on erosion hazard and a perceived decline in available humidity for the winter crop or tonalmil. Such threats are subjectively associated with the relentless retreat of forest cover. Our information did not reveal any local concern for environmental quality nor about land management impacts on the welfare of the national or international society. Multiple use trees are actively grown, but they also are indirectly handled through manipulation of secondary vegetation in any of the four homegarden classes. They are seeded, protected, and tended with a clear multiple objective. Common practices include thinning to reduce competition, pruning, toping, or scaling back (a rejuvenating overhaul through selective removal of branches). Trees most frequently used for multiple purposes are listed in Table 4.

Homegardens and sustainability Large scale deforestation, and particularly the removal of old-growth forest cover, is a global environmental concern. At stake are effects on environmental services such as photosynthesis, evapotranspiration, organic matter decomposition, nutrient cycling, protection against soil erosion, watershed regulation, global climate amelioration, protection of wildlife habitat, biodiversity, aesthetic values, outdoor recreation opportunities, and other resources conservation (Varela, 1998; Pretty, 2002). Intensive large scale farming, as currently practiced in the US, might seem also unwise and unsustainable, because of the immense amount of land in monocultures that give landscapes a certain sameness, and not because they were poor engineering designs. Monoculture might be acceptable if it followed the general principles of thinkers such as Aldo Leopold (Jackson and Jackson, 2002). The fact is, agroecological features of traditional multi-cropping systems may seem ecologically benign, but that may not be so (Townsend et al., 2003). This long list of issues and concerns add to the obvious economic outputs that land provides. It is, then, clear that natural landscapes imply social preoccupations, not just individual concerns (Paz, 1995). Deforestation is a process with many different and complex causes. It is tied up to natural, social, economic, political, demographic, and historic issues and broaches differences in regional and national development trends. Constant feedback occurs between deforestation and population growth, declining employment, land holding disparities, skewed institutional intervention on land tenure, and the changing government policies naively intended to stimulate economic growth, and poverty alleviation (Schmink, 1995). Paz (1995)

Totonac homegardens and natural resources where the only soil removal occurs when digging small holes with a stick to deposit seeds at planting time. Observations and survey answers concluded that choice criteria about resource conservation practices are intrinsically bound to homegarden existence and to a cultivation policy that keeps a constant year-around foliage canopy in all sites with steep slope, either cultivated plots, or housing premises. Admittedly, and despite opinion of many analysts (Gliessman, 2000), the clear perception and high priority that erosion hazards have in the farmers mind does tell implicitly about the almost hopeless effort to attain efcient control of natural resources use. Complete prevention of erosion and loss of biodiversity is beyond reach. There is a chance that current land management might have irreversibly crossed vital thresholds beyond ecosystem checks and balances. Lost fertility due to soil erosion essentially means a lost opportunity to maintain adequate harvest levels. Since this communitys survival is land-dependent, and agriculture is by far the occupation of choice, geographic isolation screens out many other income opportunities. Summing up, it can be said that traditional Totonac land management practices seeking diversication have been driven by a conscious intent to dampen potential ecological and socioeconomic menaces. However, these are partially effective schemes. Ideally, we could dream that nal solutions would come when and if comprehensive regional development strategies and programs change the political scenario (Uphoff, 2002; Toledo, 2003). These programs need to be complemented with best land management practices that include agroforestry, pasture, and forestry practices, soil reclamation, and conservation structures, as long as they contribute to a better link between economic, ecological, and social joint effects (Pretty, 2002). Material support to owners of economically marginal forestlands is also required. Finally, do not miss the fact that Totonac production techniques were not designed specically for environmental aims, but an a priori objective: subsistence of the family group. Therefore, it could be worthwhile to revisit these production systems as a sample of traditional native ecology, and their lessons learned to help provide direction in the development of better engineering techniques suitable to regional conditions. This last point conveys additional meaning to the environmental concerns of global interest, beyond the particular needs and views of local stakeholders in a way similar to the no-nonsense approach of Pretty (2002), and away from paternalistic government intervention (Tobar and Fernandez Pardo, 2001). Conclusions

341

 There are four variations in homegarden design in the Totonac community of Coxquihui, Veracruz, Mexico. These gardens take advantage of marginal spaces and resources.  Homegardens fulll two goals: (i) To provide a ow of home supplies needed in supporting traditional Totonac daily life. They act as a year-around storage of biotic products, and inevitably, they are seen as a hedging against the risk of unexpected failures in cash crops. (ii) To render ecological services conserving and improving soil fertility.  Home garden existence is linked to a combination of factors involving subsistence priorities, soil and biodiversity conservation, extending the usable span of marginal resources, and supporting continuous cultivation under such marginal conditions.  Home gardens are multi-strata structures, though the upper canopy is rather sparse and fragmented. Dened as a production system, their main feature is the way that cultural regimes mimic natural successional patterns. However, severe and frequent disturbances cast doubt about eventually attaining a stable ecosystem.  Seen as soil conservation practices, they are partially effective, since farmers continue to witness a relentless erosion process. The positive point to make here is about opportunities that homegardens offer for the study and technical improvement of the design of soil management practices specic to regional conditions.

Appendix 1 Scientic and local names of other plants found in Totonac homegardens. Coxquihui, Veracruz, Mexico, 2000. Scientic name Adelia barbinervis Schlecht. & Cham. Alchornea latifolia Allium sativum L. Allium sp. Allium sp. Alloe vera L Amaranthus caudatus L. A. hibridus L. A. hypocondriacus L. A. spinosus L. Annona cherimola Mill. A.globifera Schlecht. A. muricata L. A. reticulata L. Local name espino blanco encino ajo cebolla xonacate sabila moco redondo quelite quelite hoja de puerco anona1 chirimoya guanabana anona Type of orchard 2, 3 3 1, 1 1 2 2 1 1 1, 2, 2, 3 3

2 3 3

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Appendix 1. Continued. Scientic name Anthurium scandens Artemisia mexicana Willd. Bambusa guadua (Humb. &Bonpl.) Bidens pilosa L. Bombax ellipticum (H.B.K) Adelia barbinervis Schlecht. & Cham. Bougainvillea spectabilis Willd. Brosimum alicastrum Sw. Bryopyillum pinnatum (Lam.) Kurz. Bursera simaruba (L.) Sarg Cajanus cajan (L.) Hutch Capsicum annuum L., type piqun Capsicum annuum L. var. Jalapeno, tipo serrano Carica papaya L. C. peltata Hook. &Arn. Casearia guianensis (Aubl.) Urb. Castilla elastica Cervantes Cedrela odorata L. Celosia argentea L. Ceropegia woodii Sch Cestrum nocturnum L. Chamaedora oblongata Mart. Chenopodium graveolens Lag. Chlorophora tinctoria (L.) Gaud. Chrysanthemum indicum L. Ciperus rotundus L. Citrullus vulgaris Schrad. Citrus aurantifolium (Christm.) SW. C. aurantium L. C. limetta Risso C. limon (L) Burm C. maxima (Burm.) Merr. C. nobilis Lour. Var. Deliciosa C. sinensis (L) Osbeck Cniduscolus multilobus (Pax.) Johnston C. oconitifolius (Mill.) Johnston

Ana Lid Del Angel-Perez and Martn Alfonso Mendoza

Appendix 1. Continued. Local name mazorquilla estaate tarro mozote blanco thanaco Type of orchard 2, 3 2 1, 2, 3 3 l, 2, 4 Scientic name Cochlospermun vetifolium Willd. Cocos nucifera L. Coffea arabiga L. Coix lacryma Jobi L. Conostegia xalapensis (Bonpl.) Don. Conyza gnaphaloides HBK Coriandrum sativum L. Costos sulphureus Cav., Spreng Crescentia cujete L. (Kelly y Palerm) Crhrysophyllum mexicanum Brand. Cucumis melo L. Cucurbita mixta Pang. C. moshata Duch. C. pepo L. Cybistax donellSmithii (Rose) Seib. Cymbopogon citratus (DC) Stapf. Cynodon dactylon (L) Pers. C. plectostachyus (K:Schum.) Pilger Dahlia sp. Delanix regia (Baj.) Raf Dioscorea alata L. D. bulbifera L. D. composita Hemsl. Diospyros digyna Jacq. Dipholis tabascencis (Wundt.) Miers. Enterolobium cyclocarpum Griseb. Equisetum arvense L. Erechtites valeriana efolia Dc Eriobotrya japonica Lind. E. americana Mill. Eugenia capuli (Schlecht. & Cam) Euphorbia fulgens Karw. E. leuacephala Lotis E. pulcherrima Will. Ficus mexicana Miquel F. padifolia HBK Franseria acanthicarpa (Hook.) C. Gardenia orida L. Gliricidia sepium Jacq. Steud. Gnaphalium attenuatum DC Local name girasol coco cafe collarcillo capuln zacate chichi cilantro girasol jcara, guiro caimito melon calabaza calabaza melon calabaza primavera zacate limon zacate no zacate dalia framboyan cabeza de negro papa cimarrona barbasco zapote negro avalo orejon Type of orchard 2 2 1, 2 3 1, 2, 3 2 1 2 2, 3 2, 3 1, 2 1 2 1 3 2 1, 2, 4 1, 2, 4 2 2 2, 1 2 3 2 3 2

bugambilia ojite or ramon siempreviva chaca frijol de arbol chiltepn chile papaya papaya de monte espino hule cedro rojo mano de leon telefono huele de noche tepejilote epazote zorrillo moral crisantemo ajillo sandia limon agrio naranja agria lima limon toronja mandarina naranja ortiga chaya

2 3 2 4 2 2 1 2 2 2, 3 2 1, 3, 4 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 1, 2 1 1, 2, 3 2 2 2 1, 2 2 2 2, 3, 4 2

cola de caballo 2 vara de San Jose 2 ciruela japonesa pichoco 2 2 2, 3 2 2 2 2, 3 2, 3 2 2 4 2

corona de Cristo nochebuena nochebuena higuera higuera injerto estaate gardenia cocuite gordolobo

Totonac homegardens and natural resources

Appendix 1. Continued. Scientic name Gonolobus niger R. Br (Kelly y Palerm) Gronovia scadens L. Guadua aculeata Rujor. (Kelly &Palerm) Guazuma ulmifolia G. H.B.K. Hamelia patens Jacq. var. Patens Helianthum anuus L. Heliotropium parviorum L. Hevea Brasilensis L. Hibiscus sabdarifa L. H. rosa-sinensis L. H. spiralis Cav. Hura crepitans L. Hylocereus undatus (Haw) Britt. Et. Inga punctata Willd Inga jinicuil Schlecht. Ipomea batata (L). Lam. Iris Florentina (R. y Alcocer) Jacobinia umbrosa (Benth) Blake Jathropa dioica var. sessiora (HBK) Mc Baugh. Juglans pyriformis Liebm. Leandra dichotoma (Don.) Cogn. Leucaena pulverulenta (Schl.) Benth. L. pulverulenta (Schlt.) Benth. L. leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit. Licania platypus (Hemsl.) Fritsch Lipia berlandieri Schauer. L. dulcis Trev. Lucuma campechiana HBK. Kelly &Palerm. Luffa operculata Cogn. L. aegiptiaca Mill. Lupinus elegans H.B.K. Lycopersicum esculenta Mill. L. lycopersicum (L.) Karst. Ex. Farw. Mammea americana L. Local name cahuayote chichicastle tarro guazima trompetilla girasol girasol hule jamaica tulipan simonillo habilla pitaya silvestre chalahuites chalahuites camote lirio blanco vara de San Jose pinon Type of orchard 2, 3 2 3 4 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 Appendix 1. Continued. Scientic name Mangifera indica L., var. manila, petacon, criolla Manihot esculenta Crantz Manilkara Zapota L. Melampodium divaricatum (L.Richt Ex. Pers). Melothria guadalupensis (Spreng.) Cong. Mentha viridis L. Miconia oligotricha (DC) Naud. Momordica charantia L. Morus celtidifolia HBK Murraya exotica L. M. paniculata Jacq. Nectandra loesenerii (HBK) Nees. Nymphaea ampla (salisb.) Dc. Ocimum basilicum L. O. micranthum Willd. Opuntia sp. Origanum vulgare L. Pachira acuatica Aubl. Pachyrrhizus erosus (L) Urb. Panicum maximum Jacq. Parmentiera edulis DC Persea americana Mill. P. Scheideanea Ness. Phaseolus vulgaris L. Philadelphus mexicanus Schl. Phoebe mexicana Meisn. Phorandendron tamaulipensis Trel. Pimenta dioica (L.) Merril Piper amalago L. P. auritum HBK P. Fraguanum Trel. P. aeroginosibaccum Trel. P. scabrum Swartz Piscidia piscipula (L.) Sarg. Plantago major L. Pleuranthodendron lindenii (Turcz.) Slevmer Plumeria acutifolia Poir. Polianthes tuberosa L. Porophyllum macrocephallum Local name mango yuca jonote, zapote chico 2 mozote amarillo

343

Type of orchard 1,2 1, 2

1, 3

sanda de raton hierbabuena capuln cundeamor moral comestible limonaria limonaria laurel ninfa albaca albahacar nopal oregano chanacol blanco jcama guinea chote aguacate, aguacatillo pahua frijol jazmn humo secapalo pimienta (black peper) acoyo1 acoyo acoyo acoyo acoyo chijol llanten maicillo or de mayo nardo mess

1, 2, 3 2 1, 2, 3 2 3 2 2 3 2 2 2 4 2 2, 3 1, 3 3, 4 4 2 2 2 2 2, 3 2

nogal capulin comestible liliaquillo lilaque lilaque zapote cabello oregano orejon hierba dulce nino estropajo estropajo cola de zorra tomate tomatillo zapote domingo

3 2, 3 3 2 2 2, 3 2 2 2, 3 2 2 2 1 1 3

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2, 3 2 2 1

344
Appendix 1. Continued. Scientic name

Ana Lid Del Angel-Perez and Martn Alfonso Mendoza

Appendix 1. Continued. Local name chapagua verdolaga zapote mante zapote mamey copal chabacano durazno tepetomate guayaba encino rojo encino blanco cruceta higuerilla rosa de Castilla rosa palma ruda cana sauce sauco coyol espinoso siempreviva frijol de vbora ajonjol copa de oro hierba mora jobo ciruela chuchuyate caoba palo de rosa cojon or de muerto or de muerto guaya tamarindo almendro cojon de gato cacao Type of orchard 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 1 1, 3, 4 3 4 2 2 2 3 2 2 3 2 2, 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2, 3 3 3 2, 3 2 2 2, 3 2 2 2 2, 3 Scientic name Thropis racemosa (L.) Urb. Thymus vulgaris L. Vanilla Planifolia V. Pompona Vigna Sinensis Endl. Vigna unguiculata L. Yucca sp. Xanthosoma sagittifolium Schott. Xylosma exuosum (HBK) Hemsl.) Zea mays L. Local name ramoncillo Tomillo vainilla vainilla frijol cuerno frijol cuerno izote mafafa capuln chatay maz Type of orchard 2, 3 2 2 2 1 1 2 2 2 2

Porophyllum nutans Robins &Greens Portulaca oleracea L. Pouteria campechiana (HBK) Pouteria zapota (Jacq) Moore &Stern Protium copal (Schletch. &Cham) Prunus armeniaca L. Prunus persica L. Pseudomeldia oxyphyllaria Don. Smith Psidium guajava L. Quercus elliptica Nee Quercus oleoides Cham. &Schellcht. Randia watsoni Rob. Ricinus communis L. Rosa centifolia L. Rosa sp. Roystonea aff. Regia Ruta chalepensis L. Saccharum ofcinarum L. Salix chilensis Molina Sambucus mexicana Presl. Scheelea liebmannii Becc. Sechium edule (Jacq.) Swartz Sempervirens sp. Senna papillosa (B. & R.) Sesamum indicum L. Solandra guttata Don. Solanum nigrum L. Spondias mombin L. S. purpurea L. Steria glandulosa Hook et.Art. Swietenia macrophylla King Tabebuia rosea (Bertol.) Tabernaemontana alba Mill. Tagetes erecta L. T. patula L. Talisia olivaeformis (HBK) Raldk. Tamarindus indicus L. Terminalia catapa L. Man Thevetia sp. Theobroma cacao L.

Space occupied: 1: Cropping eld; 2: Backyard; 3: Acahual; 4: Fence.

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Address for correspondence: Martin Alfonso Mendoza B., Colegio de Postgraduados, Apartado Postal 421, 91700 Veracruz, Ver., Mexico Phone: +52-2299 349485; Fax +52-2299 349100; E-mail: martinmendoza@yahoo.com, mmendoza@colpos.mx