The You are not allowed to view links.
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Now, looking at the BNF Lat 17844 at larger magnification, I'm less and less certain that it looks like the plant of the VMS. This is best recognized with the smallest flower which is turned to the reader, and thus its petals are better discerned. They are rounded, quite not what we see in VMS f17r.
Maybe the valuable part of the BNF Lat 17844 image is the visual "oculus Christi" key, so that the VMS plant
is oculus Christi, but just "another one" of those.
(27-08-2017, 06:08 PM)Anton Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view....
Maybe the valuable part of the BNF Lat 17844 image is the visual "oculus Christi" key, so that the VMS plant is oculus Christi, but just "another one" of those.
We should also keep in mind that there is oculus Maria (Myosotis), oculus bovis, oculus porcine, robin's eye, golden-eye, adder's eye (pimpernel), pheasant's eye, eye-bright (Euphrasia) and many other references to plants with "eyes" in medieval manuscripts.
They don't especially resemble 17r, but there are many more than what I listed.
One that slightly resembles the VMS is
Lychnis diurna (bird's eye). It has opposite leaves running up the stem and pink or purplish flowers, but the flowers are not puffy and the leaves are a bit too wide.
Quote:We should also keep in mind that there is oculus Maria (Myosotis), oculus bovis, oculus porcine, robin's eye, golden-eye, adder's eye (pimpernel), pheasant's eye, eye-bright (Euphrasia) and many other references to plants with "eyes" in medieval manuscripts.
Do they feature an eye in the root in the same way?
(27-08-2017, 07:18 PM)Anton Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Quote:We should also keep in mind that there is oculus Maria (Myosotis), oculus bovis, oculus porcine, robin's eye, golden-eye, adder's eye (pimpernel), pheasant's eye, eye-bright (Euphrasia) and many other references to plants with "eyes" in medieval manuscripts.
Do they feature an eye in the root in the same way?
Most of them feature eyes in the flowers, but there is the occasional one that features an eye in the leaves (these show up in alchemical herbals) and a few that feature eyes in the roots (usually plants that have a hollow in the roots), but I can't offhand remember which ones.
Eyes in roots are not common.
Quote:Eyes in roots are not common.
If you recall more examples, please post them here. My point here is that it is the eye
specifically in the root that serves as the visual key. Of course I may be mistaken here, but note that the BNF Lat 17844 image not only simply features an eye - it also features red in the eye and (the more so!) the red line protracting from the eye upwards.
I think there's a pretty strong probability that the BNF Lat 101 pic is
Dianthus. Look at the way the leaves attach to the stem. This is very characteristic of
Dianthus and not as common in other plants, and the flowers look like
Dianthus as well (they can be multipetaled or single petaled, depending on the species or variety).
I can't figure out why the eye is in the root because many kinds of You are not allowed to view links.
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(27-08-2017, 11:18 PM)Anton Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Quote:Eyes in roots are not common.
If you recall more examples, please post them here. My point here is that it is the eye specifically in the root that serves as the visual key. Of course I may be mistaken here, but note that the BNF Lat 17844 image not only simply features an eye - it also features red in the eye and (the more so!) the red line protracting from the eye upwards.
Hi Anton,
while browsing BNF Lat 17844 I noticed another plant with eye-roots: Sigillo de Sancta Maria (St.Mary's seal) 70v.
Similar illustrations linked at plant.71 of the You are not allowed to view links.
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The identification with You are not allowed to view links.
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The text doesn't mention the ocular use of the plant.
(28-08-2017, 12:11 PM)MarcoP Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Hi Anton,
while browsing BNF Lat 17844 I noticed another plant with eye-roots: Sigillo de Sancta Maria (St.Mary's seal) 70v.
Similar illustrations linked at plant.71 of the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view..
The identification with You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. is for once straightforward.
The text doesn't mention the ocular use of the plant.
For this plant, I know the reason for the eyes in the roots. You are not allowed to view links.
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Wow, that's not good - in terms of that it increases uncertainty.
What's still common between the VMS and f101 is the red in the eye. St. Mary's seal does not have that.
But I'm not sure why it would be specifically the eye of
God that would bleed red...
In a 17th-century dictionary, Gouldman mentions Alista (flos paradisi), also known as Oculus Dei, but I haven't found anything that explains which plant it is.
I don't know whether they might mean Paradise Plant (Daphne mezereum). It's a widespread plant with red berries that is very toxic but nevertheless was considered a medicinal plant.
Another possibility is Aframomum melegueta of the ginger family, called grains of paradise. It's an African plant, but it must have been known in Europe because I've seen something the resembles this plant in one of the major herbals (possibly Egerton 747). It has little black seeds that open up to red centers (thus somewhat resembling eyes). The roots of various ginger species are widely used, but I don't know whether they used the roots of this one.