f1v as Cloves

[Diane]

I keep seeing this diagram identified as Atropa belladonna. I can't see why, everything about the diagram is a mismatch with this plant. It doesn't have equal leaves, no explanation for the different colours, belladonna's bracts don't hug the berry, and they are pointy. The root is wrong, too, seems more like a tree or shrub root, looks like a calloused foot.

To me the Dana Scott identification of Syzygium aromaticum seems to fit much better than any of the other identifications I've seen reported for this plant (St. John's Wort, black nightshade, etc). The only problem I see is that only the clove top shows and is shown larger than it would be in comparison to the leaves. I think the largeness could be to show what part of the plant is used, where to find it on the plant, and that one is generally enough in terms of usage. The fact that it is not 100% obvious is perhaps an attempt to keep the knowledge semi-hidden from the casual observer.



Is there a better fit for this plant drawing? It's not striking me as familiar other than the clove top, and there is also the 'clavus' connection with the word clove and the calloused foot look of the root. But it's not perfect, so I'm open to a better identification. I find that a lot of plant diagrams strike me as looking like weeds I am familiar with in North America, but they are old world plants originally, but the ID of cloves would not fit that pattern. However cloves have been used for millennia, so I could see it as a known plant, just as we know it today, at least the part that is used.

Hi Linda,
Yes, Cloves is my identification too. I take the weft-faced woven fabric as reference to the type of cloth used for the clavus (not the purple stripe, necessarily but the Coptic patches).  There is also a link, I thought (though Philip Neal whom I consulted about the Latin unguis may not agree) to that term, used of the raptor's claws or 'nail'.

I rather think that the form given the leaves again indicates a plant-group, not a single portrait, and my candidate for the other is the Madagascan Ravensara, whose leaves emit a clove-like scent and used to be employed as substitute.

Hooray - I have a second for the motion.

D