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Oyametl tree

1st Jul 2024

Oyametl tree

The oyametl tree, Florentine Codex Book XI

The large evergreen coniferous fir tree known in Spanish as oyamel is native to the mountains of central and southern Mexico. The Abies religiosa is also known as the sacred fir. It was exploited by the Mexica-Aztecs not only for its easily-worked soft wood used as timber but also for its ‘oleoresin’, a thick, aromatic oil still promoted today for its medicinal properties. (Compiled by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore)

The 16th century Florentine Codex devotes a full paragraph - and the illustration above - to the tree, in Book XI. ‘It is slender, straight; suitable for being broken up, for being cut for beams, for being split, for being divided, for making houses...’ (Sahagún, 1963: 107). The chronicler goes on to add, after describing cypresses, ‘There are other trees in the land called oiametl... from which is obtained a liquor very precious and medicinal called abeto... These trees are very large and tall, the mountains are filled with them’ (quoted in Emmart, 1940: 279 - she notes that ‘Today the trunks are tapped in winter to secure the oleoresin used in medicine for its balsamic properties’).
Moreover, in the Badianus Manuscript or Aztec Herbal of 1552, the tree is listed amongst several used by the Mexica in the treatment of ‘the fatigue of those administering the government and holding public office’ (pic 1).*

The Nahuatl name for this tree, oyametl combines two words: oya meaning to shell or thresh (eg corn seeds) and metl meaning agave. Conceivably the Mexica-Aztecs drew a parallel between the tree and the agave since both produce a semi-solid sap with medicinal properties and both grow useful needles.
Interestingly, the sacred fir is the preferred tree for the vast numbers of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) to reside in colonies during their overwintering in the remote forests of Michoacán.
*An internet search today reveals that ‘Fir essential oil is used [in modern aromatherapy] to stimulate the mind and spirit, improving attention and productivity. One of the oldest tree species and a symbol of wisdom and longevity’ (byscent.co.uk).

Sources/references:-
• Emmart, Emily Walcott (1940) The Badianus Manuscript (Codex Barberini, Latin 241) An Aztec Herbal of 1552, The John Hopkins Press, Baltimore
• Molina, Fray Alonso de (2013) Vocabulario en lengua Castellana/Mexicana, Editorial Porrúa, Mexico City (originally written 1555-1571)
• Sahagún, Fray Bernardino de (1963) Florentine Codex - General History of the Things of New Spain, Book 11 - Earthly Things, trans. Charles E. Dibble and Arthur J. O. Anderson, School of American Research and University of Utah, Santa Fe.

Picture sources:-
• Main: image from the Florentine Codex scanned from our own copy of the Club Internacional del Libro 3-volume facsimile edition, Madrid, 1994
• Pic 1: image scanned from Emmart, 1940 (op cit)
• Pic 2: photo by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore
• Pic 3: photo by Rafael Saldaña/Wikipedia.

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Oyametl tree

The oyametl tree, Florentine Codex Book XI

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