26-05-2025, 04:31 PM
Today, I saw a plant growing from a seed mixture I planted earlier. I didn't immediately recognize the plant, but the flower reminded me of the comparisons made earlier in this thread. Apparently it's White mustard (Sinapis alba), also called yellow mustard and Brassica alba. What struck me about this flower though, is that is has four "spikes" in between the arms of the cross. According to Wikipedia, that's "4 petals per flower and 4 alternating sepals".
The flowers of Eruca (bottom in the pic) are more color-appropriate though, and they have more explicit widenings at the ends of the cross arms.
So here's the weird thing. All Brassicaceae (Cruciferae) have a four petal, four sepal structure. Only in mustard they poke out to the side, while e.g. in arugula they remain closer together as part of the elongated structure under the petals. The Voynich drawing.. has both. A double set of sepals, one in the mustard fashion and one in the arugula fashion.
The flowers of Eruca (bottom in the pic) are more color-appropriate though, and they have more explicit widenings at the ends of the cross arms.
So here's the weird thing. All Brassicaceae (Cruciferae) have a four petal, four sepal structure. Only in mustard they poke out to the side, while e.g. in arugula they remain closer together as part of the elongated structure under the petals. The Voynich drawing.. has both. A double set of sepals, one in the mustard fashion and one in the arugula fashion.