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+--- Thread: [Article] Identification of Phytomorphs in the Voynich Codex (/thread-1436.html)
Identification of Phytomorphs in the Voynich Codex - Oocephalus - 11-01-2017
This article by A.O. Tucker and J. Janick has just come out in the Horticultural Reviews. It builds on the earlier paper by Tucker & Talbot in Herbalgram, attempting to identify the plants in the VMS as New World species, based on the hypothesis of a Mexican origin of the MS. There are 59 proposed plant identifications, including some that were not included in the earlier paper. A Google Books preview is online You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view..
I haven't yet looked at this in detail, so I can't say how convincing the identifications are. Just thought it may be interesting to some here.
RE: Identification of Phytomorphs in the Voynich Codex - -JKP- - 11-01-2017
(11-01-2017, 03:02 PM)Oocephalus Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.This article by A.O. Tucker and J. Janick has just come out in the Horticultural Reviews. It builds on the earlier paper by Tucker & Talbot in Herbalgram, attempting to identify the plants in the VMS as New World species, based on the hypothesis of a Mexican origin of the MS. There are 59 proposed plant identifications, including some that were not included in the earlier paper. A Google Books preview is online You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view..
I haven't yet looked at this in detail, so I can't say how convincing the identifications are. Just thought it may be interesting to some here.
Thanks for the link Oocephalus.
I'll keep this short, since I don't want to clutter up the News section, but I can see how someone might think the plants are North American.
Different species of Althea, Trientalis, Viola, milkweeds, hawkweeds, dandelions, etc., grow both in the New World and Old World and they look very similar, and some species are indigenous to both the New and Old world (e.g., some of the saxifrages and vacciniums).
Some Old World plants were brought to the Americas by colonists, but many were simply a slightly different species of an Old World plant that had been in the New World since before the colonists.
So, there are many that grow on both continents, and many Old World plants that look almost identical to New World plants. Sometimes you can only tell the difference with a microscope.
I investigated the possibility of a New World origin for many many months and couldn't find a smoking gun (not even the sunflower) and discovered some other things that point to the Old World plants.
I also considered that maybe most of the plants were drawn in the early 15th century and maybe a few were added after Columbus's journey. I also considered that the Scandinavian explorers or Basque whalers may have brought back some New World plants prior to Columbus, but never found any strong evidence... yet.
So I remain on the fence about it, skeptical but open-minded.
RE: Identification of Phytomorphs in the Voynich Codex - Anton - 11-01-2017
I'm on the fence too - the authors seem to continue to explore their American hypothesis. I don't like to discourage that - in fact, the more proposed identifications with good match we have, the better. But it would be interesting to know how they adjust for the carbon dating. Do they argue that someone wrote it in the New World on the old stock parchment? Unfortunately, Google hides the pages from view where that may be explored.