Abstract

MACHUCA, Paulina. The Arrival of Plants in the West Indies: The Case of Balsas-Jalisco through 16^th-century Relaciones Geográficas. Relac. Estud. hist. soc. [online]. 2013, vol.34, n.136, pp.73-114. ISSN 2448-7554.

According to Alfred Crosby's proposals, in the 16^th century the American continent experienced the greatest biological revolution since the end of the Pleistocene, as waves of plants were disseminated around the globe thanks to the sea-journeys undertaken by Portuguese and Spanish. New Spain became a privileged scenario for this grand event. This text examines 45 "Geographical Relations" from the Balsas-Jalisco region in order to identify the plants that had been introduced by the decade of 1580, and those that had been incorporated into the daily life of native populations.

Keywords : introduced plants; agricultural systems; agricultural technology; Balsas region.

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