The Voynich Botanical Plants

Folio 14v, Wood Betony, Heal-all, Self-heal, or Woundwort (Stachys monnieri), is a large, upright, perennial herb found in the grasslands of Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa. It is a creeping, self-rooting plant with large, lance-shaped, serrated leaves growing on short stalks in opposite pairs at the base of the upright stems. The flowers grow from a clublike, whirled cluster at the end of the stalk. Antonius Musa, chief physician to the Emperor Augustus, claimed that it cured 47 diseases and was effective against sorcery. It was planted in graveyards to prevent activity of ghosts.