The Voynich Botanical Plants

Folio 65v, Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus), is native to Europe. It is a tall, slender, branched plant with narrow, lancet-shaped, alternate leaves covered with white hairs. The flowers have pale purple disc florets surrounded by bright blue ray florets that form the conspicous part of the flower. The pigment extracted from the flowers is mixed with alum-water to create an ink. The English herbalist, Culpepper, considered that the seeds or leaves taken in wine would ward off the plague and all infectious diseases.