f18v

[-JKP-]

They're all part of the Malvaceae family (closely related), the Hibiscus and Mallows. Sometimes we say "Mallow" family even though that's not as accurate as Malvaceae.
It's a bit like saying "carrot family" for a broad range of umbillifers.

The Malvaceae all have that five-pronged stigma and many features in common.

Here's a good example that shows it really clearly: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

But below the stigma/style is an enigma...

The calyx of the Malvaceae (the green part under where the petals attach) sometimes has a double row, some spiky pointy parts and within them, a broader calyx but I'm not sure if this completely accounts for the way the flower part of the VMS flower is drawn. It's almost scaly (more like the aster family) and doesn't have the hirsute style (I mean the morphological part called the "style") that is so typical of the mallow family.

So, even though I strongly suspect this plant was inspired by the mallow family, which was known throughout Europe (hollyhocks in the north, Hibiscus in the south), the stigma is unmistakable and clearly not drawn by accident, there might be a symbolic reason for the way the "cup" under it is drawn and, as you noted, the emphasis on the center stigma (it's almost candelabra-like).


In the Bible, "mallow" probably doesn't mean what it does now. There are some who think it might be a goosefoot plant. It's something bushy with seedy stalks like grain that may have been harvested as famine-food.