Compound plants in the VMS ?

[MarcoP]

Hi Matthias,
Alain Touwaide presented a similar idea in his 2019 Rome conference. For instance, he mentioned that that You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. shows the leaves of a nymphaea and the flower of a lily. He also commented on the fact that some parts recur in different plants in various combinations. E.g. in You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. the lily flower is composed with star-shaped leaves. He compared the individual parts with details from Sloane 4016 (Touwaide is the author of the monograph about this ms that accompanies the Moleiro facsimile). I hope he will provide further details in You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view..

I discussed You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. the compounding system in the "three-names" (non Pseudo-Apuleius) part of Trinity herbal O.2.48. These illustrations are produced by combining over and over again the same basic elements (mainly leaves, flowers, roots). In this case it seems clear that the illustrations were added by someone who had no idea of the plants he was illustrating. He could only rely on the text that says things like (You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.) : "the plant has flowers with a small horn and leaves like those of water Apium; the root is shaped like a scorpion".  The result is an illustration where a childish flower with a small horn is composed with stylized Apium leaves; a "scorpion" (a lizard with eyes and legs) appears instead of roots.