This resource was colonial Mexico’s second most important – and profitable – export.
Silver
Poinsettias
Cochineal
Sugar
Cochineal, a scale insect that is still used today as a source of red dye, Spain and Mexico had a monopoly on this material from the mid-1500s through the 1850s, when cochineal was successfully cultivated outside the Oaxaca region and synthetic red dye was formulated.?