f5r

[-JKP-]

...

In fact, based on the assumptions expressed in this thread, I got a novel idea that can be named "heads and tails" paradigm. With this paradigm:

a) the look of the Voynich plants is explained by that the primary purpose is mnemonics;
b) the roots of the Voynich plants are used as mnemonics for one language/usage (say, Latin/"scientific") and the tops of the plants are used as mnemonics for another language/usage (say, German/"folklore")

For You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. this would be the (provisional) Lysimachia and Schirmkraut, respectively.

With this concept, there may be no plant names mentioned in the botanical folios at all (so my PPN idea would need to be discarded), because they would actually be not needed there anymore.

This may position the botanical section completely out-of-style and make the search for style parallels vain, because the appearance would not be following style, but be the direct consequence of the ingenious approach of the mastermind behind those folios. And, of course, this would make the botanical section not a traditional herbal - because it conceals plant names instead of revealing them.

Of course this assumption is only provisional at the moment and needs to be checked against more botanical folios.

Anton, that's a good thought.

I have a slightly different idea, but... it's along the lines of there maybe not being traditional (or Latin) plant names...

If this is Trientalis (I'm not saying it is, just that it's the closest one in botanical terms)... then the common name of the plant in many areas is star flower (in a number of languages).

Suppose the text uses "star" by reference to some of the cosmological sections? It doesn't have to actually be the word "star", it could be any combination of glyphs to mean star and thus wouldn't necessarily match glyph-by-glyph to other words on the same page.


Anton, as a point of interest... since you mention a possible hybrid function... both Paris quadrifolia and Trientalis europaea live in the same general regions and grow in the same general habitat (although Trientalis can be found a little farther north). Both have that very distinctive "berry on a stick" with the thin calyx that curls under. Paris was used for coughs, eye inflammation and wound healing, Trientalis was used for wound healing.

I don't see evidence in most of the naturalistic plants that more than one plant has been combined, but there are a few where I think it may have happened, and if ever there were motivation to combine them, these two temperate zone forest plants, Paris and Trientalis, which are used for similar purposes, and have similar shapes except for the leaves, would qualify.