A.Weiss > 09-09-2026, 08:28 PM
ololololo > 11 hours ago
Radim Dobeš > 10 hours ago
(09-09-2026, 08:28 PM)A.Weiss Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Dear Voynich Community,
As a newcomer to the study of the Voynich manuscript, I would like to share a series of hypotheses regarding the identification of its botanical folios. Unlike many researchers, I initially explored the Voynich Manuscript without prior knowledge of its extensive scholarly history. Instead, I focused on the visual and functional aspects of its botanical illustrations.
What struck me most was the deliberate distortion of certain plants, which seemed to serve a purpose beyond mere artistic representation. For example, the discrepancy between the well-designed parts (such as flowers or leaves) and the seemingly arbitrary elements (like the square roots in folio 53r) suggests intentionality. Additionally, the absence of labels—either visually in the text or on the illustrations—reinforced my assumption that both the text and the drawings are coded.
This led me to a critical question: How can we accurately identify plants in an encrypted manuscript?
Given the manuscript’s apparent objective—not to create a herbal dictionary or a copy of existing designs for knowledge dissemination—it seems the content was intended to be accessible only to those with prior knowledge of plants or medicine. This aligns with the idea of a restricted audience, such as medieval apothecaries or physicians.
Proposed Rules for Decoding the Botanical Section:
Based on these observations, I propose that the Voynich’s botanical section operates under the following rules, which I illustrate with examples below:
Identifications and Supporting Evidence
- Functional Emphasis: The shape of a plant hints at its medicinal use, while the inaccurate or distorted parts (roots, leaves, or flowers, depending on the folio) are those not used in medicine. Botanical illustrations prioritize functional utility and overal aspect ( position of the leaves top / bottom, symetrical non symetrical, pointy/round...) over botanical accuracy (norm of description at this time).
- Nominal Rebus: Specific shapes or objects are integrated into the drawings to hint at plant names or properties through visual puns or symbolic representations.
- Filler Elements: Some parts of the plant are included only to complete the drawing and may explain recurring similarities (reused by the artist to fill gaps). These elements are medicinally irrelevant and often inaccurate, and used to « encrypt » the plant and mislead on its identification.
Folio 43v – Aspic Lavender (Lavandula latifolia) and the Snake Rebus
This was my first clue to the system:
- The flowers (the medicinally relevant part) are accurately depicted as clusters of small blue dots.
- The leaves are small and spaced, while the roots are an indistinct mass (unused, hence inaccurate).
- The snake drawing on the left is a nominal rebus, linking the plant to Lavandula latifolia (aspic lavender).
- A potential connection exists between the flowers in 43v and drawing 135 on folio f100v, row 2, which may confirm the flowers as the usable part of the plant.
- Comparative illustrations for flowers and pair of leaves:
Folio 47v – Arnica montanaFolio 90v – Valeriana officinalis ("Cat Herb")
- The folio displays a basal leaf rosette and composite tripartite flowers.
- A diagnostic element: two small, stylized mountain peaks at the transition between the stem and root system.
- Botanically, Arnica montana features a ground-level rosette of ovate leaves and a stem supporting three terminal composite flowers (yellow in nature).
- The blue color of the flowers may serve as an alchemical marker (medieval humoral theory :cold/purification), encoding its use for cooling contusions and resolving bruising ( hot and red).
- The mountain rebus at the root is to give clue on the identification (montana).
Folio 46v – Pteridium aquilinum (Eagle Fern)
- The root resembles a feline silhouette, a zoomorphic rebus referencing the plant’s common name and properties (roots attract cats due to volatile compounds like valerenic acid).
- The symmetrical pointed leaves and complex blue flowers are simplified or filler representations.
- Comparative illustration for the leaves: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
- The flowers are unused in medicine, so their depiction is inaccurate and filler.
- The root resembles a heraldic eagle with outstretched wings, while the leaves cascade downward with deep, multiple demarcations.
- The plant’s vascular bundles (visible when the stem is cut) resemble a double-headed eagle, a feature known in medieval botany. (requires further medieval textual confirmation it seems to be a common knowledge but I was not able to track a formal proof).
- Only the roots are medicinally relevant; the flowers are filler.
- Comparative illustration for the leaves: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
Additional Identifications
- 5v - Orchis anthropophora, Small man in the flower, walking on akink of Ankh cross. The man is directly drawn in the flower, clue: Flower resembles hanging men; binodular root
- 13r - Gentiana lutea, Large, inverted heart-shaped root; rigid stem, clue: Root symbolizes its cardiotonic use
- 25v - Artemisia dracunculus, Dense narrow green leaves; small dragon, clue : Dracunculus means "little dragon" (mnemonics)
- 34v - Paeonia officinalis, Roots depict two fighting stags, clue: Medieval belief: stags ate roots for strength/wound healing
- 6v - Ricinus communis, Accurate part = castor bean pods, Aligns with prior identifications
- 42v - Hypericum perforatum, Strange, pointy star-shaped flower : link to the five petal of the yellow flower as represented here : You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
- 89v, row 1 (Illustration 64) / folio 1V - Helleborus foetidus, Root designed as a bear paw, clue : Common medieval name: "bear’s foot" .Probable link with folio 1v two roots like paws with claws ?
- 49r - Lonicera, Two snakes in the root, clue : Plant coils like a snake ; flowers are the accurate/medicinal part
- 17v - Centaurea cyanus, Red Eyes in the root ( inflammated eyes) 3 blue flowers on the top with pointy symetrical thine leaves, similar illustration on flower and leaves here : Egerton F21r : You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. , You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
To close this I would like to share some though on Folio 7v. I do not think at all that this plant is Juniper. I think f7v is Arctium lappa and here is why:
- If it were juniper, the berries (medicinally relevant) would be accurately depicted. Here, only one black dot appears on the leaves and not several.
- Leaves are detailed and quite accurate: round mass near the ground, growing along a single stem with sporadic leaves, multi-colored (light green, dark green, brown), and small hooks .
- The dot symbolizes the healing part (leaves) and their use .
- The hook near the root (biologically inaccurate) hints at the plant’s adhesive property ("sticks like Velcro").
- Arctium lappa was called "herbe aux teigneux" (herb for ringworm), a visual indicator of its use for tinea cataplasms from the leaves.
- Reference of these properties are here :You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. BNF Latin 6822 f15V
- Illustration : Sloane MS4016 You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. : You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
For the dot on the leave here a similar treatment there is an italian Historia Plantarum from around 1340-1398 that shows two different plants with the same details here : You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. , You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
Furter Folios with unindentified clues
- 10v Root resembles a wing,
- 22r Stem in a Neron’s cross,
- 35r Plant resembles a cup
- 55r Right root similar to an elephant
Conclusion: A Structured System of Visual Encryption
The Voynich Manuscript’s botanical illustrations are not botanical failures—they are functional successes. By encoding medicinal utility into visual distortions and rebuses, the manuscript transforms into a compact, encrypted pharmacopoeia, designed for rapid recognition by initiates
This framework resolves longstanding contradictions between botanical realism and the manuscript’s unique iconography.
This system explains:
- Why some parts are accurate (medicinally relevant).
- Why others are distorted (irrelevant or filler).
- Why symbols recur (mnemonics for names/properties).
From the serpent of 43v to the bear’s paw of F89v, each clue is a piece of a puzzle. The iconography operates as a deliberate, rational encryption system.
This challenges the notion that the drawings are fantastical or poorly executed copies, instead positioning them as purposeful, coded representations for those "in the know."
Who else has noticed these patterns?
Happy to exchange further
A.Weiss