Edith Sherwood Ph.D.

The Voynich Botanical Plants

Folio 1v Back to Plant List
folio 1v

Folio 1v. Herba orbicularis. According to the notes of Dr. W.O. Hassell (Herbal, MS Bodley 130 C. 1100, The Bodleian Libraary Oxford), herba orbicularis is Aristrolochia pallida. Cicero claimed that the plant was named for an unknown Greek called Aristolchos who had learned from a dream that the plant was an antidote for snake bites. (1) Neither drawing looks much like the plant known today as Aristrolochia pallida. (B)

(1) Wikipedia
(B) Drawings that are similar to illustrations in other herbals