Off Topic: Cochineal

Jane McGary janemcgary@earthlink.net
Sun, 14 Aug 2005 08:22:31 PDT
Not having a Nahuatl dictionary on the shelf -- my Native American 
linguistic studies were well to the north of that -- I won't attempt to 
answer the cacomitl query (though I could ask someone else if it's 
crucial), but I can reply to Dennis's comment,
"As for Herbertia lahue being native to Chile... I thought that it was
>native to Texas!  Is this a different species, or one that is actually
>Pan-American ?

In "Bulbs of North America," Michael Chelednik writes: "This species occurs 
in heavy soils of coastal prairies in Louisiana and Texas but also in 
southeastern South America, a curious distribution shared by a number of 
bulbous plants including Habranthus tubispathus and Zephyranthes 
chlorosolen; it has been speculated that all these were introduced from 
South America, possibly by early Spanish missionaries."

Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon, USA



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