The Voynich Manuscript/F9v

Transcription, comments, theories, links to do with VMs page f9v to be added here... :-)

Description: edit

One plant, flush against the right and bottom edges, reaching almost to the top.

Root: a bundle of thin wires. Dark overpaint?

Stem: one straight. Light color.

Branches: two symmetrical pairs, oblique.

Leaves: the four lower ones are medium width, lance-shaped, with smooth edges; the others have the same outline but are deeply cut into five narrow points. Dark color.

Stalk: short, mostly missing.

Flowers: five, at the tips of stem and branches.

Stalk: medium length, thin

Chalyx: flat or everted, with short triangular sepals, partly hidden by corolla.

Petals: five rounded petals, a large one on top, the others like "arms and legs".

Core: very small. Medium and dark colors.

Two paragraphs (with 3.7 and 7.7 lines) at the top, left-justified. The first one is right-justified; the second one follows the plant's profile on the right. Both are interrupted in several places by the flowers and leaves.

Comments: edit

Petersen identifies this plant, with high confidence, as "Viola trinitalis". I coudn't find such species, but "herba trinitatis" is the herbalists' name for Viola tricolor (heartsease,wild pansy) [1,2,3].

Indeed, comparing f9v with a drawing by Carl Lindman [1], we see an almost perfect match --- including the roots, and the two types of leaves.

Dennis Mardle [10 Oct 1998] observes that the details match also Viola arvensis (field pansy), which hybridises with V. tricolor and is very similar in shape, including especially the dimorphic leaves [1,4].

The colors may help resolve this issue. The flowers of Viola tricolor are usually purple and white with yellow core; Lindman's drawing shows V. arvensis as white (or light blue?) with yellow core. Jim Reeds color list [03 Mar 1998] reports some blue on this page, to be confirmed.

In either case, there is one odd detail: the flowers in f9v are upside-down. Also the two bottom flowers are somewhat different.

Viola tricolor was used internally to treat epilepsy, asthma and bronchitis (whole plant), as an emetic and purgative (seeds) and as a heart tonic (flowers). Externally it was used to treat skin diseases [2]. The flowers are reported to be edible.