Principal English Translation:
a plant with medicinal value; the bark is mashed and drunk with water to "evacuate all the humors by the inferior route" (Valley of Mexico, 1570–1587)
The Mexican Treasury: The Writings of Dr. Francisco Hernández, ed. Simon Varey, transl. Rafael Chabrán, Cynthia L. Chamberlin, and Simon Varey (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2000), 116.
Attestations from sources in English:
huitztómatl = "a bush with thick ramified roots, from which spiny stems grow four palms long. Its leaves are similar, up to a point, to spinach leaves. They are velvety and whitish on their undersides. The flower is purple with certain yellow filaments." (Central Mexico, 1571–1615)
The Mexican Treasury: The Writings of Dr. Francisco Hernández, ed. Simon Varey, transl. Rafael Chabrán, Cynthia L. Chamberlin, and Simon Varey (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2000), 116.