02-04-2017, 03:20 PM
I would agree that this is Gentiana lutea, the variations on the name pretty much confirm it (plus one of the modern names is genciana). Also, the drawing looks like G. lutea.
I'm not surprised they drew the root like that. G. lutea has a broad top and finger-like branches. It's similar to a mandrake or branching parsnip root, thick at the top with "fingers" lower down.
It's my belief (as I mentioned up-thread) that a flat-top (especially if there are multiple plants) represents a plant that sets out rhizomes and grows thickly from new shoots and that it may also refer to aquatic plants, sometimes, which often grow in this manner (sending out rhizomes and forming thick clumps)...
But... I think some of the herbal drawings represent "boles" in the sense of being thick, fibrous roots and lower stems. So... one finds them on drawings of woody shrubs, or plants with a tough lower stem.
Even though it's stylized, the root does resemble a G. lutea root and G. lutea does put out rhizomes (sideways roots that spread to create new plants), so even this aspect of the flat-top root would be botanically supported.
I'm not surprised they drew the root like that. G. lutea has a broad top and finger-like branches. It's similar to a mandrake or branching parsnip root, thick at the top with "fingers" lower down.
It's my belief (as I mentioned up-thread) that a flat-top (especially if there are multiple plants) represents a plant that sets out rhizomes and grows thickly from new shoots and that it may also refer to aquatic plants, sometimes, which often grow in this manner (sending out rhizomes and forming thick clumps)...
But... I think some of the herbal drawings represent "boles" in the sense of being thick, fibrous roots and lower stems. So... one finds them on drawings of woody shrubs, or plants with a tough lower stem.
Even though it's stylized, the root does resemble a G. lutea root and G. lutea does put out rhizomes (sideways roots that spread to create new plants), so even this aspect of the flat-top root would be botanically supported.