411 REFERENCE · Wikibooks
The Voynich Manuscript/F7r
Reference material by Wikibooks contributors. This retains its source identity and is not 411 news reporting.
Transcription, comments, theories, links to do with VMs page f7r to be added here... :-)
Description:
One plant with no leaves and a single huge flower, spanning the
entire height and width of the page.
Root: a short, vertical, cylindrical stem that splits into two almost horizontal mousetails.
Stem: straight, vertical.
Branches: none.
Leaves: none.
Flowers: a single flower at the tip of the stem.
Stalk: not visible, or indistinguishable from stem.
Chalyx: eight symmetrical sepals, shaped like long parabolas.
Corolla: four layers, of decreasing sizes, each having four symmetric petals, located diagonally with respect to the previous layer.
Core: none.
Two paragraphs (with 4.3 lines and 4.5 lines), both left- and
right-justified: one at the top, interrupted by the flower; one
just below mid-page, interrupted by the main stem.
Comments:
Petersen has identified this plant with high confidence
as
Nymphaea alba (white water lily, seerose)
http://www.runeberg.org/nordflor/181.html
http://linnaeus.nrm.se/flora/di/nymphaea/nymph/nympcan2.jpg
There is indeed a good match in the shape and arrangement of the
petals and sepals. Also, the lack of leaves and branches in f7v is
plausibly explained by the fact that Nymphaea's flowers float on
the water's surface, and thus may have been hidden from the
artist's view.
But if f7v is Nymphaea alba, then what do we make of f2v?