[Imagery] The root of the plant at the top right of f89r1 is animal-shaped

[MarcoP]

Statement: The root of the plant at the top right of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. was drawn to suggest an elongated animal.

Explanation: The head of the animal is represented in profile, in the upper part of the root. An eye and the mouth were drawn. The base of the stem of the plant corresponds to the mouth of the animal.

[NOTE:  the original statement was
"The root of the plant at the top right of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. was drawn to suggest an elongated animal with forked tail". 
In the comments, it was pointed out that the forked tail might be two secondary roots. So I removed the reference to the tail.]

[Koen G]

Excellent wording.

[-JKP-]

Statement: The root of the plant at the top right of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. was drawn to suggest an elongated animal with forked tail. 

Explanation: The head of the animal is represented in profile, in the upper part of the root. An eye and the mouth were drawn. The base of the stem of the plant corresponds to the mouth of the animal.

Because the animal is mostly recognizable in the upper part of the root, I'm not sure it's an animal with a forked tail. It's possible the end of the "tail" simply represents a root.

I'll agree that the upper part resembles an animal. Serpents were often drawn this way in the middle ages, although it's hard to tell for certain if a serpent/dragon were intended.


If it is a serpent or dragon, it's still hard to determine what it means. A serpent in a plant drawing had a wide variety of meanings. It could refer to the plant name (e.g., serpentina), it could mean the plant was good for snake bite, it could mean the plant was poisonous, or it could mean that there was a kind of snake with a name that was alphabetically next to the name of the plant, just as a goose might be drawn after a picture of a gallium plant.

[VViews]

I pretty much agree with what JKP wrote here. 
The head is probably a head, the tail part i'm not so sure.
What animal is it supposed to look like exactly anyway? I'd be curious to see... Anyone got pictures, of real or imaginary animals with four legs, a forked tail, and an extra long, serpentine neck.

[Koen G]

Could be an eel of some sorts.



The forked tail part is a common way to draw aquatic animals. I'm pretty sure that this is part of the animal, but if it is problematic the forked tail part can be dropped from the statement.

[MarcoP]

Thanks to JKP, VViews and Koen.
I removed the reference to the forked tail, since you judge it dubious.

[Davidsch]

radice di serpente
sounds good to me

[Anton]

This one is somehow stuck-in-active. Should we add a poll?

I think the eye betrays an animal. But I'm at a loss about what animal it is. Looks like a hybrid of eel and scolopendra.

[Koen G]

It should certainly pass with the wording boiled down to the bare essentials like it is now.

[Anton]

Poll added. Please pay attention to the current revision of the statement as edited by Marco.