Compound plants in the VMS ?

[Mark Knowles]

One could interpret these drawings as being a clever combination of roots from one plant and leaves from another to communicate a particular message.

If one breaks down the individual plants into their components ( root, stem, leaf and flower ) and sees each of these parts as an independent "unit", then your assumption is quite justified.

When you say my assumption, I believe you mean that statement. I ask as that is not my assumption, nor do I believe it so. I think it is the assumption of many.

The key word is "clever". Someone might draw a plant's root in a way that vaguely resembles another plant's root, but there is a question as to whether this is a very deliberate decision or merely inadvertent. With so many plants in the manuscript misdrawing or mixing up roots occasionally seems very plausible unless one is very rigorous. The idea of some clever mix and match going on seems less likely to me.

I suppose to some extent it depends on one's perspective on the authors as to whether every detail in the manuscript was careful, calculated and well thought out or whether some things were ad hoc, inadvertent or just plain disorganised.