name applied to several medicinal plants used to induce contractions during childbirth (Montanoa tomentosa, Montanea grandiflora, Eriocoma floribunda) (see Karttunen)
Cihuapatli "cures the indispositions of women;" Spanish women of New Spain called it "mother's herb;" can "relieve stomach cramps, cure dropsy, and provoke menstruation;" also an ornamental plant used in gardens and in pots.
"auh injc qujcivitia in jiehcoliz piltzintli cioapatli tlaquaqualatzalli conjtia in otztzintli. Auh intla cenca qujhijotia, conjtia in tlaquatl: ic iciuhca tlacati in piltzintli = And to hasten the birth of the baby, they gave the pregnant one cooked ciuapatli herb to drink. And if she suffered much, they gave her [ground] opossum [tail infusion] to drink, whereupon the baby was quickly born." (central Mexico, sixteenth century)
"intla oqujc cioapatli, in joan tlaquatl: intlacamo qujtlacamati in ijti: cenca tlaovicamati in ticitl, ioan in jlamatque = if the woman drank the ciuapatli and the opossum [tail infusion, and] if her labor pains responded not, the midwife and the old women considered it." (central Mexico, sixteenth century)