[split] f35v parallels "oak and ivy"

[-JKP-]

...

The fact that the VM does not draw the leaves of the vine but only of the host is something that remains hard to explain. If all associated remedies had been about the berries this would have been easy. But the leaves are such in important omission that we can't even tell whether this is ivy to begin with... Also within the plant corpus of the Voynich itself it's a strange thing that only the fruits of a plant are drawn.

It's true that the leaves are missing, and it's an unusual "omission" so when I was studying this folio I looked very closely at all the tree-climbing ivies with berries.

It's possible it's one of the other ivies but... the drawing very closely resembles the shape and colors of Hedera helix berries, so it's still likely that H. helix is intended.

One explanation for the way it's drawn is that many ivies lose their leaves in the winter (after turning bright red), but retain the berries for a while, except that Hedera helix is very cold-tolerant ivy and retains its leaves longer than most plants, sometimes all winter.

Another possibility is that it is, in fact, an ivy similar to Hedera helix but one that does lose its leaves in the winter. Some species of Parthenocissus (which loses its leaves in winter) have berries similar to H. helix but they are native to the far east and New World and unlikely to have been known in the middle ages, even to those who traded with middle Asia.


Or, the creator may have considered the leaves unnecessary for identification since the berries and habit of the plant, taken together, are distinctive. If it's Hedera helix, it's a very common plant.