This folio is one of those where mnemonics are easiest to grasp, because the beast looks quite like a dragon.
Hence, my first look would be for something beginning with Drachen-.
Pritzel has a number of references, among which I picked up (looking at the respective plants' photos) three:
Dracaena draco - aka Drachenbaum
Eupatorium cannabinum - aka Drachenkraut
Polygonum bistorta - aka Drachenwurz
Of these three, Dracaena and Eupatorium look better for me than Polygonum, and from these two, ceteris paribus I would pick Eupatorium, because Dracaena is a tropical plant, while Polygonum is European.
But: Pritzel lists also one more interesting plant, named Gummi draconis, which, in terms of mnemonics, would be the best fit, because what the dragon does in You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. it chews the leaves. This Gummi draconis has the folk names of Drachenbaum and Drachenblut. Pritzel says it's Calamus draco, Dracaena draco and Pterocarpus draco (which is Dracaena cinnabari). I don't know what is Calamus, but looks like it is also some sort of Dracaena.
So the tie-break seems to be in favour of Dracaena.
Now, Pliny writes about Dracaena, but only in a roundabout way - he writes not about the plant but about the pigment (cinnabaris indicus) resulted from the mythical fight between a dragon and an elephant. But in fact this pigment (in those times imported from India, I suppose) was derived from Dracaena which was unknown to Pliny as a plant. (I could not find the exact place in Pliny and just quote the Internet).
So my question would be: when Dracaena as a plant got known to Europeans?
Hence, my first look would be for something beginning with Drachen-.
Pritzel has a number of references, among which I picked up (looking at the respective plants' photos) three:
Dracaena draco - aka Drachenbaum
Eupatorium cannabinum - aka Drachenkraut
Polygonum bistorta - aka Drachenwurz
Of these three, Dracaena and Eupatorium look better for me than Polygonum, and from these two, ceteris paribus I would pick Eupatorium, because Dracaena is a tropical plant, while Polygonum is European.
But: Pritzel lists also one more interesting plant, named Gummi draconis, which, in terms of mnemonics, would be the best fit, because what the dragon does in You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. it chews the leaves. This Gummi draconis has the folk names of Drachenbaum and Drachenblut. Pritzel says it's Calamus draco, Dracaena draco and Pterocarpus draco (which is Dracaena cinnabari). I don't know what is Calamus, but looks like it is also some sort of Dracaena.
So the tie-break seems to be in favour of Dracaena.
Now, Pliny writes about Dracaena, but only in a roundabout way - he writes not about the plant but about the pigment (cinnabaris indicus) resulted from the mythical fight between a dragon and an elephant. But in fact this pigment (in those times imported from India, I suppose) was derived from Dracaena which was unknown to Pliny as a plant. (I could not find the exact place in Pliny and just quote the Internet).
So my question would be: when Dracaena as a plant got known to Europeans?