VMS -- Botany (f55v) Red-Hot Poker

["Dana F. Scott" <dfscott@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Veltheimia bracteata (Forest Lily) from South Africa is a very good
match for the botanical drawing in f55v. It is also known as Cape Lily
and Red-Hot Poker (there is actually a variety of different flower
colors). It is interesting to see that the flowers and leaves in the VMS
have been turned up, away from their natural droop in a mature plant,
which suggests that the plant may have been drawn from a harvested
specimen that was dried and preserved. Some of the plants seen in the
VMS might then have been collected in South Africa and transported up to
Europe (Italy?) where they were then examined and included in our
infamous manuscript. The examination of dried plants ex situ could also
have presented a problem for the VMS scribe when attempting to identify
the correct colors originally seen in the live plant in situ, especially
if the person collecting the plant was not the same person making the
entry in the VMS.

Description:
http://florawww.eeb.uconn.edu/acc_num/198501087.html
http://www.smgrowers.com/velbra.htm
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/factsheets/bulbs-summer/velthemia.html

Photo:
http://www.bulbsociety.org/GALLERY_OF_THE_WORLDS_BULBS/GRAPHICS/Veltheimia/Veltheimia_bracteata/V.bracteata.html

http://www.bulbsociety.com/GALLERY_OF_THE_WORLDS_BULBS/GRAPHICS/Veltheimia/Veltheimia_rosalba/V.bracteatarosealba.html

http://www.bulbsociety.com/GALLERY_OF_THE_WORLDS_BULBS/GRAPHICS/Veltheimia/Veltheimia_capensis/Veltheimia_capensis.html

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/factsheets/bulbs-summer/velthemia.html

http://www.dem.de/entertainment/cybergarten/zimmerpflanzen/veltheimia_capensis.html

http://www.hortpix.com/pc4380.htm
http://www.hortpix.com/pc4381.htm

Regards,
Dana Scott