They are in numerous different languages (but mostly Latin).
Sometimes there is nothing more than a label and sometimes the labels were added years later and are not always correct (they seem to be about 90% correct).
The descriptions fall into categories.
Some describe the major ID traits of the plant and are sometimes accompanied by how the plants are used. Some include medicinal recipes.
Some include the elemental traits of the plant (what grade of hot, cold, wet or dry).
Some of them use excerpts from Pliny's plant descriptions.
One that stands out as different is the plant descriptions of Hildegard. Her descriptions are a little more narrative than some.
Many of the plant books were created by professors and students of medicine, because plants were medicine in the Middle Ages.
None of them are technical compared to modern botany and medicine, they were pretty basic and straightforward.
You should look at some of the translations Marco has posted. They convey a good sense of the "magical thinking" that existed in the Middle Ages.
Also, if English is your primary language, check out the early medieval herbals in Old English. They are readable and they are some of the oldest ones in Europe. It's possible someone brought back a plant manuscript when they returned from the crusades and thus it was copied earlier in the northern countries than some of the Greco-Roman ones that reached the southern areas via Greece and Italy.
Sometimes there is nothing more than a label and sometimes the labels were added years later and are not always correct (they seem to be about 90% correct).
The descriptions fall into categories.
Some describe the major ID traits of the plant and are sometimes accompanied by how the plants are used. Some include medicinal recipes.
Some include the elemental traits of the plant (what grade of hot, cold, wet or dry).
Some of them use excerpts from Pliny's plant descriptions.
One that stands out as different is the plant descriptions of Hildegard. Her descriptions are a little more narrative than some.
Many of the plant books were created by professors and students of medicine, because plants were medicine in the Middle Ages.
None of them are technical compared to modern botany and medicine, they were pretty basic and straightforward.
You should look at some of the translations Marco has posted. They convey a good sense of the "magical thinking" that existed in the Middle Ages.
Also, if English is your primary language, check out the early medieval herbals in Old English. They are readable and they are some of the oldest ones in Europe. It's possible someone brought back a plant manuscript when they returned from the crusades and thus it was copied earlier in the northern countries than some of the Greco-Roman ones that reached the southern areas via Greece and Italy.
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