[split] f2v plant ID

[-JKP-]

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From this, we should conclude that 'looks most like X' is not a sufficient criterium to identify herb drawings in medieval herbals.
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I agree with this. I believe the plant that the VMS drawing MOST RESEMBLES are in the plant family I mentioned above, and I've argued for it because I think it's an ID-possibility that is often overlooked, but this is not the same as saying that is what it is. My contention is that the frogbit plants belong on a list of possible IDs. It might be a not-good drawing of Asarum europeum (the flower is completely wrong) rather than a good drawing of one of the frogbits.

That's why I have a "short list" of identifications for each plant (including this one). Some people have criticized me, saying that I was trying to "hedge my bets" by having several IDs instead of just one, but it's unrealistic to think it's possible to choose one ID for a crude unlabeled drawing. Even the VMS drawing that looks very much like Viola tricolor resembles two or three other species of Viola.

It's not POSSIBLE to narrow medieval plant drawings to one species unless they are labeled. We have to find the "best matches" and compare the SEQUENCE of drawings to similar herbals to work out what they are. If no similar herbals can be found, then multiple plant IDs for any given drawing are inevitable.

Even GOOD botanical drawings cannot always be narrowed down to a specific species because some plants can only be distinguished from one another using a microscope. In fact, the Villarsia/Menyanthes is an excellent example, since botanists originally thought the New World gulf species was a transplant from the Old World, brought over by colonists. Closer examination showed it to be a separate species, even though it looks the same.

Herbal manuscripts are full of drawings that look nothing like the plant they describe and the VMS drawings are not stylistically comparable to any commonly known manuscripts, just as the Greek and Arabic herbals are not stylistically comparable to European herbals (or to the VMS, or to each other).

But... the VMS drawings are pretty good compared to many. It's what attracted me to the VMS, and it's what keeps me interested.