Apollo's attributes: f30v

[-JKP-]

I see what you mean JKP, this could certainly be the case.

Two more things I forgot to ask. Could the parts on top represent some kind of pods that are opening? Or just fruits on branches?

And secondly, if there is an allusion to the laurel, could the color of the leaves be meant for gold? Laurel wreaths have always been known in gold form, they were the original crowns.

Yes, good point about the laurel wreaths. They figure prominently in many cultures and medieval illustrations.

Here are a couple of  snaphshots of English laurel (Prunus laurocerasus), a Eurasian plant that has naturalized in western Europe and North America, that resembles Laurus in a number of ways and also has some commonalities with the VMS plant drawing.

You can see the fruits branching to either side, the old (brown) fruiting branch from the previous year, and a new growth fruiting branch that has had all the fruit picked off by birds (which might be another explanation for the "feathery" bare branches). It also has serrated leaves but they are slightly less pointed than the Mediterranean laurel.

   



The leaves do turn yellow in fall, but I don't think it's distinctive enough to account for the yellow coloring in the VMS plant, since many plants turn yellow. You may be right that there's another explanation for the yellow/brown coloring that might be mnemonic.

If the VMS plant is some species of laurel or a plant like this Prunus "laurel" that resembles true laurel (Mediterranean laurel), then the round fruits are probably berries.