Plants in Mexican Art

Armando Maravilla and Felipe Macías offer a journey through the relationship between vegetation, art, and cultural identity, highlighting the aesthetic, symbolic, and ecological value of plants in the Mexican landscape in their article Plants in Mexican Art.

There has always been a close relationship between art and vegetation, from the earliest graphic representations of humanity to the work of renowned artists who have portrayed plants as an essential part of the country’s cultural identity. One of the key figures in this connection is José María Velasco, who, in his paintings, depicts ash trees, willows, and poplars, perfectly capturing the natural landscape of pre-revolutionary and revolutionary Mexico. His work reflects the temporal cycles of the Valley of Mexico: the dry and rainy seasons. It is precisely during the dry season that the ash trees reach their greatest splendor, displaying their flowers and releasing their winged fruits, which gently fall over the city.

There has always been a close relationship between art and vegetation, from the earliest graphic representations of humanity to the work of renowned artists who have portrayed plants as an essential part of the country’s cultural identity.

BIBLIOGRAFÍA / BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO). n.d. Fraxinus uhdei (Wenz.) Lingelsh. Oleaceae. http://www.conabio.gob.mx/conocimiento/info_especies/arboles/doctos/53-oleac1m.pdf.
Comisión Nacional Forestal (CONAFOR). n.d. Fraxinus uhdei. http://www.conafor.gob.mx:8080/documentos/docs/13/922Fraxinus%20uhdei.pdf.

BIBLIOGRAFÍA / BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO). “Montanoa tomentosa Cerv.” Malezas de México. http://www.conabio.gob.mx/malezasdemexico/asteraceae/montanoa-tomentosa/fichas/ficha.htm.
GBIF Secretariat. “Montanoa tomentosa Cerv.” GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. https://www.gbif.org/es/species/5406080.
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Zoapatle. Atlas de las Plantas de la Medicina Tradicional Mexicana. http://medicinatradicionalmexicana.unam.mx/apmtm/termino.php?l=3&t=zoapatle.

Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO). “Amaranthus hybridus L.” http://www.conabio.gob.mx/malezasdemexico/amaranthaceae/amaranthus-hybridus/fichas/ficha.htm.
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Facultad de Medicina. “Quelite.” Atlas de las Plantas de la Medicina Tradicional Mexicana. http://www.medicinatradicionalmexicana.unam.mx/apmtm/termino.php?l=3&t=quelite.