<\/a>Description<\/strong><\/p>\n This is a large plant occupying most of the page, with two text blocks broken across the lower stem.<\/p>\n The plant is distinctively painted red and green. The center stalk shows red on the right and green on the left. The side stalks somewhat alternate red and green. This could mean that red and green leaves are present on the plant or that one side of the leaf might be red, the other green (or contrasting colors that are symbolized by red and green, since the VM illustrator had a limited palette).<\/p>\n The leaves appear to be elliptical clasping, or possibly sagittate clasping (or at least positioned very close to the stem. The branching stems have been left uncolored, as has the calyx in which a rounded, dark brown shape, possibly a berry, nestles. The central stalk is shown erect (perhaps to show the flower head more clearly?) and the side stems curve gently.<\/p>\n The root is distinctive, very large, with a semi-even rough texture rendered over the whole surface, and claw-like side roots. In fact, the whole shape of the root resembles bear feet, except that there are three nodes rather than two.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Prior Identifications<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Edith Sherwood has identified this as deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna<\/em>). It originally occurred to me that it might be some form of nightshade due to the berry-like shape at the end of the top stem and the vine-like curve to the left and right branches, especially since some species of nightshade can have large roots, but there are a number of ways in which nightshade differs from the Voynich plant, so I didn’t want to assume VM 1v was nightshade until I had looked at other possibilities.<\/p>\n One thing that stands out about the VM plant drawing is the way the leaves are attached\u2014whereas nightshade leans toward having petioles, the VM leaves appear to be clasping (or nearly so). The VM plant alternates red and green but nightshade is usually a fairly consistent shade of green. Nightshade stems can sometimes be reddish. The VM “berry” is at the end of the stalk, whereas nightshade berries grow from the nodes, and the calyx of the VM plant is rounded, not pointed like Atropa belladonna<\/em>. Perhaps the most significant difference between the VM plant and Atropa belladonna<\/em>\u00a0is that the leaves of nightshade\u00a0are alternate, whereas the VM 1v leaves are predominantly\u00a0opposite.<\/p>\n In other words, the VM plant only superficially resembles\u00a0Atropa belladonna\u00a0<\/em>and there are many other plants that resemble it more closely. It might be an inexpertly drawn version of nightshade, but even an amateur illustrator can usually tell the difference between opposite and alternate leaves, so I’m putting nightshade off to the side, at least for now. Disappointed at abandoning nightshade, a plant I rather like and which grows in my garden, I searched for other vines that have berries or cup-shaped flowers with a rounded calyx. I also kept in mind that VM 1v might not be a vine at all, but I’m inclined to think it is\u2014not the kind that sends out tendrils and climbs like a pea but a plant that is semi-upright and tends to lean and curve as the branches get longer. I concentrated on plants with opposite leaves, even though there is an occasional leaf on VM 1v that isn’t perfectly opposite. While most plants tend to “choose” one or the other, not all plants hold slavishly to specific leaf patterns, some will have opposite leaves near the base and smaller alternate leaves near the ends of branches, for example.<\/p>\n The VM illustrator teases us by not making it clear whether the knob at the top is a flower or berry and by not indicating whether the plant has radiating or parallel veins (or perhaps it’s a clue that the veins are less obvious than on other plants). As with many of the drawings, there’s enough information to tantalize without making the identification truly obvious.<\/p>\n
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