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Sacred Plants of the Maya Forest

from BBC News Online

Some of the Central American rainforest's hidden treasures are being revealed by the Maya, more than a millennium after their passing. A study of the giant trees and beautiful flowers depicted in Maya art has identified which they held sacred.

Created during the Maya Classic Period, the depictions are so accurate they could help researchers spot plants with hitherto unknown medicinal uses. The research is published in the journal Economic Botany.

Plants played a significant role in the ecology, culture and rituals of the Maya people, whose artwork reflected the rich diversity of plant life around them. But while numerous examples of such artwork exist, few have been studied to see exactly which plants they depict. So natural historian and archaeologist Charles Zidar of Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, US, and botanist Wayne Elisens of the University of Oklahoma, Norman, US, decided to find out.