The Voynich Botanical Plants

Folio 87v left, Primrose (Primula vulgaris), is a common Spring flower native to Central and Southern Europe. Its common name is derived from the Medieval Latin, “prima rosa,” meaning “first rose.” The plant has knotty roots with branched rootlets; the leaves are egg-shaped and oblong; each flower is on a separate stalk having a green-tubed calyx; and the pale yellow, tube-shaped corolla ends in five semi-fused petals. Pliny regarded the primrose as an important remedy for muscular rheumatism, paralysis, and gout and primrose leaves were used as potherbs during the middle ages.