The Voynich Botanical Plants

Folio 28v, Rhododendrons, are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere. The name comes from the Greek: rhodos meaning “rose”, and dendron, “tree.” The leaves are spirally arranged around clusters of large, pink, red, or white flowers. The Greek soldier Xenophon (431 to 355 BC), a contempory of Socrates, noted that some of his soldiers became ill after eating honey made from the nectar of rhododendron flowers. These plants produce a toxin that is fatal for horses and has a slightly hallucinogenic and laxative effect on humans.