1. Dr. Francisco Hernández (1515−1587), King Phillip II's chief medical officer in the Spanish colonies in the New World (1570−1577), was the first trained scientist to gather ethnobotanical information directly from Aztec healers and to assess the medicinal usefulness of the natural resources found in the highland central area of Mexico. He described the properties of the “cacamótic tlanoquiloni” or purgative potatoes (Mexican jalap roots) as being “benign remedies” to purge the stomach “with wonderful gentleness and safety, and furthermore they remove bilious and other humors from the veins”. Selective sections in English from hisThe NaturalHistory of New Spaincan be found in: Hernández, F.The MexicanTreasury: the Writings of Dr. Francisco Hernández; Varey, S., Ed.; Stanford University Press: Stanford, CA, 2000; pp 117−156.
2. Hernández, F.Historia Natural de Nueva España; Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México: Mexico City, 1959; Vol. II, pp 133−135.