RE: Codicology - Vermont 'Tuscany Herbal'
-JKP- > 13-04-2017, 06:14 PM
Maybe I went too far in trying to interpret it (sorry, I was in a hurry and wasn't thinking clearly) but it doesn't match the various plants that are usually called lion's foot/lion's paw and it is a very good (quite accurate) match for minionette which goes under a variety of names and which has leaves that are somewhat pinnate (like dent de lion but rounder, like a paw), so "lion-like foot" would not be out of place for minionette.
I still feel however, that those authors from the 16th and 17th centuries who have assumed that it's the same as lion's foot are mistaken. This plant doesn't match most of the plants that go by lion's foot, such as:
Alchemilla vulgaris, which is sometimes called lion's foot or bear's foot, but it looks quite different and doesn't have these distinctive yellow pods with black dots.
Prenanthes, which is rattlesnake root or lion's foot, but not a good match.
Leontopodium which includes the flower known as Edelweiss and doesn't look at all like the drawing.
A distant possibility is Leontice leontopetalum (Turkish lion's foot) the leaves are somewhat similar, but the roots and seedheads are wrong.