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Re: Centaurea (f02r) Bachelor's Button
Dear Dana,
My notes and memory are incomplete, but the flowers on folios 2v
(Nymphaea?) and 24r (Silene?) also sport white corollas, the former
an especially brilliant and impressive white. The most striking color on
the botanical and "biological" folios is of course green, and it is in
contrast to this green and the yellowish color of the vellum itself that
the brilliant white jumps out at the eye. The flower on folio 10r has a
blue corolla, and the leaf blades and curling inflorescence (?) of the
palm-like plant on folio 56r are also blue. The astronomical/astrological
diagrams are mostly uncolored. In addition, it may be significant that
the vase-like "jars" in the pharmaceutical section seem to switch from
red, green and yellow, to blue and green, on alternate pages; I'm not sure
if this is intended to communicate something or if it was just the whimsy
of the illuminator. I hope this information is helpful to you.
Philip Marshall
On Tue, 1 May 2001, Dana F. Scott wrote:
> Hi Diane,
> What a nice revelation. I am very pleased to learn that the flower is
> yellow. That will help narrow the search a bit. In fact, I am not
> surprised at all that the flower is yellow. The other color that I would
> expect to find for flowers in the VMS is white. If my hunch is right,
> yellow relates to the color of the sun and/or gold and white corresponds
> to the color of the moon. Of course, this is just a guess at this point.
> I would indeed be interested in knowing the colors of the other flowers,
> if you have that information. It would be greatly appreciated and help
> to significantly reduce the quest to identify the plants and flowers.
> One of the reasons I am so interested in identifying the plants (if
> possible) is to determine their true color. My focus is on the facts
> concerning the VMS. If it can be shown that an assessment or an
> observation is not correct, then I am pleased to discard it. I find that
> the Voynicheros are excellent listeners, have a finely tuned acuity for
> detail, and a great deal of patience. Thank you.
>
> http://www.williams-nursery.com/images/centaureamacro.gif
>
> Regards,
> Dana Scott
>
> "diane.cousteau" wrote:
>
> > Hello! Just writing to mention a little detail concerning your
> > i.d of f. 2r as centaurea: the flower in the VMS is yellow, not
> > blue....sorry, but I have never encountered any yellow centaureas.
> > Maybe the author of our manuscript was
> > colorblind? Do not hesitate to
> > contact me if you need to know the true color of all VMS plants and
> > their parts, I'd love to
> > help. diane
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From:Dana F. Scott
> > To: voynich@xxxxxxxx ; AFScott@xxxxxxx
> > Sent: Friday, April 27, 2001 5:58 AM
> > Subject: Centaurea (f02r) Bachelor's Button
> > Except for the lack of darkly checkered bracts Centaurea
> > cyanus (Cornflower; Florence Llavender) is a very appealing
> > match of the plant in f02r. The flowers and leaves are
> > similar and C. cyanus is also a well known herbal. Deni Bown
> > writes in "The Encylopedia of Herbs & Their Uses the
> > following concerning Centaurea:
> >
> > There are some 450 species of annuals, biennials,
> > perennials, and subshrubs in this genus, which occurs in
> > Mediterranean regions, Eurasia, N America, and Australia; C.
> > cyanus is found in cornfields and waste places in Europe and
> > western Asia. Various species are grown as ornamentals for
> > their brightly colored, thistle-like flowers. Centaurea is
> > named after the legendary centaur,
> >
> >
> > I can imagine the appeal of Centaurea to the VMS author when
> > one understands something of the history of the immortal
> > centaur Chiron, who was in utter pain after being apparently
> > accidentally wounded by Hercules' arrow which had been
> > dipped in poison.
> >
> > Greek Mythology:
> > http://www.math.
> > tk.edu/~vasili/GR_link/Greek_myth/centaur.html
> >
> > Photo:
> > http:/
> > www.daisyparadise.fsnet.co.uk/daisyA-Z/A-C/centaurea%20cyanus.htm
> >
> > http://www.daisyparadise.fsnet.co.uk/moredaisies/centaurea.htm
> >
> > http://www.kconline.com/tg/uraniwa/Centaurea.html
> >
> > ttp://www.apa.umontreal.ca/gadrat/c/Centaurea/cyanus/96072803.jpg
> >
> > http://www.apa.umontreal.ca/gadrat/c/Centaurea/cyanus/96072802.jpg
> >
> > http://www.apa.umontreal.ca/gadrat/c/Centaurea/cyanus/96072804.jpg
> >
> > http://www.cernyseed.cz/cent.cyan.htm
> > http://www.flogaus-faust.de/photo/centcyan.jpg
> > http://www.pp.clinet.fi/~mygarden/centcy.jpg
> > http://www.earthlygoods.com/wildflowers/cornflower.html
> >
> > ttp://www.viarural.com.ar/viarural.com.ar/agricultura/malezas/centaurea-cyanus01.htm
> >
> > Description:
> > http://www.blue-tea.com/cyanus.html
> > http://www.gardenguides.com/flowers/annuals/bachelor.htm
> > http://hg.women.com/homeandgarden/plants/centcyan.htm
> > http://pages.infinit.net/mel3/centaurea.html
> > http://www.fleurs-des-champs.com/fic/fiches/f59.htm
> > http://www.floristikwissen.de/home/bot/c/cent_cya.htm
> >
> > ttp://www.desert-tropicals.com/en_francais/Plants/Asteraceae/Centaurea_cyanus.html
> >
> >
> >
> > Spanish: (interesting; used for inflamation of the eyes;
> > compare to Belladonna?)
> > http://lanaturaleza.hypermart.net/aciano.htm
> >
> > ttp://planeta.terra.com.br/saude/plantasmedicinais/pm/centcyan.htm
> >
> > Illustration:
> > http://www.rr
> > .uni-hamburg.de/biologie/b_online/thome/band4/tafel_134_small.jpg
> >
> > http://www.pre1900prints.com/Botanical/CentaureaCyanus1848.htm
> >
> > http://www.ipk-gatersleben.de/~ochsmann/centaurea/images/Tafel_595_01.jpg
> >
>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Philip Marshall
Yale University
School of Forestry & Environmental Studies
tel: +1(203)436-2137
email: philip.marshall@xxxxxxxx or pmm8@xxxxxxxxxxx
"The pig was not merely a pig but a creature bound among other things to
the fence, the dandelion, and a very special definition of property."
-William Cronon