VMS -- Botany (f51r) Henbane

[Dana Scott <dfscott@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

After having examined the VMS plant in f51r at length I am reasonably
satisfied that Henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) is a good match for this
drawing. I am not completely convinced about the flowers and wonder if
other herbals were referenced and influenced the final design. Certainly
the leaves evolved under the artistic hand of the scribe. There may be
deeper levels of interpretation that escape my imagination at the moment
aside from the obvious dark beetle insect shapes of the leaves. A scarab
perhaps? Who knows?


Photo: (notice the shape of the leaves)
http://www.dipbot.unict.it/orto/1063-1.html
http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/schoepke/hyo_ni_1.jpg


Description:
http://www.thehimalayadrugco.com/h-hyoscyamus.htm
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/h/henban23.html
http://www.alchemy-works.com/hyoscyamus_niger.html
http://whitedragon.org.uk/articles/henbane.htm
http://www.b-and-t-world-seeds.com/15111.htm
http://www.oneplan.org/Crop/noxWeeds/nxWeed01.htm
http://www.canalvip.com.br/neumart/pm/hyoscyam.htm
http://www.buyitonline.ca/ethnobotanix/p832.html
http://giftpflanzen.com/hyoscyamus_niger.html
http://homeoint.org/books/boericmm/h/hyos.htm
http://www.fleurs-des-champs.com/fic/fiches/f139.htm
http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/~reynolds/Luna/FromTheWitchesBrew.html
http://utopia.ision.nl/users/aart/flora/Solanaceae/Hyoscyamus/H.niger.html

http://www.egora.fr/Tox-In/TOXIANGL/PROTOCOL/PLANTES/MONOPLAN/JUSQUIA0.HTM

http://www.cwma.org/black_henbane.html
http://www.psychicinvestigator.com/Drugs/Henbane.htm
http://www.alchemy-works.com/herb_hyoscyamus_niger.html
http://www.purplesage.org.uk/profiles/henbane.htm
http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/alphalist.html

Illustration:
http://www.i-a-s.de/IAS/botanik/thome/band4/tafel_031_small.jpg
http://itsa.ucsf.edu/~wsadee/various.html
http://caliban.mpiz-koeln.mpg.de/~stueber/lindman/110.jpg
http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/library/kohler/1763_011.jpg
http://www.rufeger.de/psychoaktiv/deutsch/hyoscyamus.niger.html
http://www.iranflora.com/mdplant/hyoscyamus.htm

Species:
Hyoscyamus niger var. agrestris Kit.
http://hyoscyamus.yage.net/

Beetles:
http://www.source.at/beetles/english/big/dorcus.htm
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~wp5k-tnd/ko.html
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~wp5k-tnd/94.jpg
http://www.beetlesculpture.com/scarab1/pic26mec.jpg
http://www.kalmeijer.net/pilledr.html
http://www.ento.csiro.au/Ecowatch/Primary/beetles/pages/Onitis_alexis.htm

http://www.photoquest.com/jcox/jcox13.shtml
http://www.thewildones.org/Animals/scarab.html
http://www.source.at/beetles/english/big/lucanus.htm

Regards,
Dana Scott