Posted August 25, 2025 Written by Nicholas Hellmuth
We warmly invite you to join us for the Universidad Francisco Marroquin, lecture: Trees, Beverages, and Maya Cacao Glyphs, where we will explore the fascinating world of cacao in ancient Maya culture. Discover the symbolic role of trees, the importance of cacao-based beverages, and the rich legacy preserved in Maya glyphs. This event offers a unique opportunity to connect history, culture, and tradition, while deepening our appreciation of one of the most cherished plants of Mesoamerica.
Discussion of the two different native species of cacao plus lots of other seed pods that are the same size as cacao pods. This is the first publication that gently suggests that the trees pictured on the oft-published Highland Maya vase of the Museo Popol Vuh, UFM, feature the small flowers and fruits of Crescentia trees<—not cacao whatsoever.
Rare photos of leaf-cutting zompopo ants carrying flowers instead of leaves. The Popol Vuh clearly discusses ants carrying leaves in Xibalba.
Although the book of the Popol Vuh was found in the Quiche area of Highland Guatemala, most of the flora and fauna featured are from the Maya Lowlands (especially of Peten). In other words, the Highland Maya adapted a Lowland treasure of Maya myths. The dynastic history segment of the Popol Vuh is Highland—but most sacred plants and animals are from the Lowlands. In other words, every regional kingdom thousands of years ago had their own regional version—their own dynastic history—but with the mythical flora and fauna not significantly changed from the Maya Lowland origins.
This PDF is in PowerPoint (horizontal) format so we can show photos of flora and fauna at a large size on your computer of tablet.
Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, 7pm, Museo Popol Vuh, Universidad Francisco Marroquin, lecture Maya Cacao Trees, Maya Cacao Drinks, Maya Cacao Hieroglyphs,
And Cacao Pods shown in Classic Maya Art and Tiquisate Style Ceramic Female Portraits Revelation of LOTS of other Native Fruits of Guatemala are same Size and Shape as Cacao Pods.
Available for you to share with everyone on social media and send as an attachment is a monumental 207-page photo album of high-resolution photos of waterlilies of Maya rivers and lagoons of Guatemala.
The waterlily is the flower most often pictured in Classic Maya art—it is debated to what extent it is potentially hallucinogenic and to what degree it was used to imbibe by the Classic Maya. A publication in Mexico about 4 years ago features the water lily as a popular drug for the Classic Maya, but what is needed is more lab tests to determine what part of the plant was used and how it was prepared. I say this because in past decades some Peteneros said the plant had edible parts with no hallucinogenic effect.
The most popular revered flower
of the Classic Maya Civilization, Sacred Waterlily Eco-Systems of Guatemala
This photo album of the Maya water lily is an example of decades of FLAAR research on flora, fauna and ecosystems, especially wetlands.
The front cover is normal single-page size but the PDF is horizontal page format so can be used by professors to project for their classroom lectures.
Water Lilies of Mayan Areas of Guatemala
Gorgeous full-color photos at full-page size.
Mayan Water Lilies of Monterrico (Pacific Coast)and Arroyo Pucte (Peten), Guatemala.
Biodiversidad en el Rio Tres Arrollos, El Naranjo, Peten: Guatemala, Ciclo de Vida de Nymphaea Sp.
Waterlily Paradise, Lakeside, Riverside,
Creeks, Swamps, Nymphaea ampla, El Golfete
Municipio de Livingston, Izabal, Guatemala
Floating Heart, Water Snowflake, Nymphoides Indica, El Golfete. Livingston, Izabal
The research team at FLAAR (USA) and FLAAR Mesoamerica (Guatemala) have been studying water lily flowers in remote parts of Guatemala for many decades.
On Wednesday, February 19, at 8 pm ET, there will be a literally amazing PowerPoint presentation that shows rain forest ecosystems with amazing wild tropical plants that are edible.
We will show over 200 full-color photos of edible flowers and plants with other edible parts, including the largest native seed pod (as long as a long watermelon). The seeds could also make cacao (but the tree is not a Theobroma cacao tree). The flower of this Pachira aquatica, zapoton, tree is an inspiration for the “fleur de lis” painted on Late Classic Maya vases, bowls and plates.
There are over 600 wild plants in Guatemala that are edible and well over 200 of these are in the Reserva de la Biosfera Maya (RBM) of the north half of Peten (from Lake Peten Itza north to the Campeche border). The PowerPoint presentation via ZOOM will show you plants not in most documentary TV programs because no TV team wants to hike as deep into remote areas of the rain forests as the FLAAR team enjoys to explore.
IMS, Institute for Maya Studies, lecture organized by Jim Reed of IMS to be presented by Nicholas Hellmuth based on research on ecology and biology and biodiverse ecosystems of Peten during the recent six years by the entire team of biologists and ecologists of FLAAR Mesoamerica.
Posted February 21, 2025 Written by Nicholas Hellmuth
Here is the complete 220 pages of large-format full-color photos from recent six-years of research by FLAAR and FLAAR Mesoamerica in project of coordination and cooperation with CONAP for the Reserva de la Biosfera Maya.
Since there are many hundreds of edible plants of each biodiverse ecosystem we have focused on savannas and swamps that have not been previously visited or studied by any botanist, ecologist, geologist or archaeologist.
With high-resolution aerial photos and panorama photos from iPhone Pro and Google Pixel pano-mode you can see in this publication incredible scenes of the Neotropical area around the Maya sites of Naranjo-Sa’al, Yaxha, Nakum, Topoxte Island and El Peru-Waka’. You can now see what the Classic Maya had available to eat without slash-and-burn milpa agriculture.
Posted September 27, 2024 Written by Nicholas Hellmuth
We did field work one week each month for 18 months in the Municipio de Livingston, Izabal, a one year research project for flora and fauna in Parque Nacional Yaxha, Nakum and Naranjo (PNYNN) and had a three-year project with CONAP in the Reserva de Biosfera Maya (RBM) in Peten. The result was more than 30 TERAbytes of digital photos of flora and fauna.
On September 24, 2024, we were asked to give a lecture at INTECAP on edible plants of Izabal but since most of the other lectures at this conference were on Peten, we added photos and comments on edible plants of Peten.
There are thousands of pine trees in southern Peten and millions in Belize. There are millions more pine trees in the Highlands of Guatemala—but in the north half of Peten, in the Reserva de la Biosfera Maya (RBM) pine trees rarely exist—except for one tiny “island” of pine trees near Parque Nacional Tikal (PANAT).
The FLAAR Reports on El Pinal island of pine trees in the RBM, one in English, the other in Spanish) also includes a nice organization of the plants that ethnobotanist Cyrus Lundel documented there many decades ago.
Our reports show lots of tasiste palm trees in the pine forest—so the pine needles on the ground do not stop the tasiste. We use a registered drone for aerial photos never before published of this remarkable ecosystem. This field trip is part of our ongoing research in cooperation and coordination with CONAP and with the administrators of each national park.
Aerial photos, map, panorama photos from the ground, with text in English.
The complete report, with captions and introduction in Spanish.
