Dear Listers,
You may be interested to read that the source of Linnaeus' idea behind using the mythology about Andromeda
and Perseus to name a plant genus has been found in a page of an Italian Medieval manuscript, dating from 1444. The material renaissance included commodities such as plants, used for foods, medicines and cosmetics.
It had previously been thought that Linnaeus had indulged in a flight of wild imagination in naming the plant Andromeda, but we now know that he was simply
referencing familiar medicinal folklore about the plant, which had since been lost to history. Now it has been rediscovered.
Please feel free to disseminate the information to other scholars who may have an interest.
Kindest regards,
Dr. Gerard Cheshire.
Research Associate.
University of Bristol.
