The Voynich Ninja

I've been learning a bit more about local herbs during this summer vacation, and one plant that grows literally everywhere is knotgrass (Polygonum aviculare). It appears especially well adapted to city life, springing up between tiles of many a sidewalk. In Dutch it is called "varkensgras" (pig-grass) and in German "Vogelknöterich" (bird-knotweed).

The way it radiates out from a central point is very similar to the behavior of the plant on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. . Here it is next to the main image on the wiki:

[attachment=5755]

Apparently knotweed can be eaten and has been used medicinally. The You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. lists an impressive array of sources: Dioscorides, Pliny, Galen, Pseudo-Apuleius, Pseudo-Dioscorides de herbis femininis, Hildegard (?) and more.

Compared to all images presented on the German wiki, I would even say the VM is more true to nature, capturing extremely well how the plant appears when you look down on it. The Vienna Dioscorides does an okay job and depicts a stem-like root just like the one in the VM.

[attachment=5757][attachment=5756]
I'll join Linda in a moment.
I give the bird's-foot trefoil 99%. Vogelknöterich

Koen, I think you have a translation error.

Bird's vetch and bird's knotweed are two different plants.
Vogelwicke / Vogelknöterich

I just fell for it too. I have to be more careful.
In fact, Google has now played a trick on me.

I should have included the Latin name of the herb I meant, it is indeed [i]Polygonum aviculare.[/i] I'll add it to the title. 

Should this be added to the more certain plant ID list? The plant drawing seems to be of the relatively naturalistic kind. 

I think definitely.
It appears in some books. Temporally before and after the VM.
The drawing style is almost the same everywhere. The colouring is also correct. And I have already found them in recipes.

She has the same attention to detail as Viola and Castor.

Yes it seems very naturalistic. I can't see any manifestation of mnemonics here, can you?

Very realistic when you look at the original.
Here is a link with a description.
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(16-08-2021, 10:41 AM)Anton Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Yes it seems very naturalistic. I can't see any manifestation of mnemonics here, can you?

Nope, another reason to add it to the "reliable" category.

The ID looks good, but isn't that just supposed to be part one? Isn't the purpose of the plant ID supposed to be the establishment of a connection with a medieval text monograph of the same plant. And then use that monograph connection to try to compare the structures of the relevant written texts.

So where are the medieval monographs? It happened with another recent investigation about Prunella. Every investigation needs examples. The difficulty with botanical investigation is not  just the basic identification in the first place. There are only a few of these that have medieval connections, and none of these has provided a comparative text for examination.