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[-JKP-]

...there is another Oculis Christi called Sweet William

Hi JKP, this information seems relevant to me. Could you please link a source?

Marco, I did about 85% of my plant research in 2008 and early 2009, so it may take me a few hours to find it, but I will try to get it for you as soon as possible.

If I remember correctly, one of the references was Mittelalterliche Pflanzenkunde by Hermann Fischer, but I'm going by memory, and I don't think this was the earliest reference.

In French it is called œillet de poète (little-eye of the poet) which has become synonymous with carnation plants in general, so Dianthus has a strong association with eyes.


Aster atticus is also called eye of Christ in French (l'oeil de Christ) but it doesn't match the VMS plant as well as Dianthus. Aster montanus is also called Oculus Christi. The name l'oeil de Christ also refers to You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (spiny starwort), a yellow aster with a big "eye" flower, but it has whorls of leaves that don't match the VMS.

Hildengard von Bingen mentions Oculus Consulis (Liber subtilitatum, c. 1180) for Tragopogon (sometimes referred to as caryophlla or garyophilla in old herbals), but it is not a good match for You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. either.




One thing I noticed about Eupatorium cannabinum (which shows up in old herbals and is a fairly good match for the VMS) is that it is sometimes drawn with long narrow opposite leaves, as in the following picture (left). That strange thing is that it doesn't have leaves like this. The leaves are in whorls and this image is from Curtis which is usually very accurate. It makes me wonder if there is a similar plant that is sometimes misidentified. The example in the middle, from Lindman, and the one on the right, from Esser, both have the correct leaf arrangement: