This post is part of an ongoing series featuring items from the newly acquired Julio Mario Santo Domingo Collection.
Aconitum also known as wolfsbane is a particularly poisonous plant that grows mainly in the Northern hemisphere. Apparently it was historically used to kill wolves thus the reference to the plant as wolfsbane. The image above is from La Leyenda de las plantas : mitos, tradiciones, creencias y teorías relativos a los vegetales, which displays the myth about how this poisonous plant was formed according to the Greeks. The accompanying text which is in Spanish appears to state that in Hecate’s garden the foam from the mouth of Cerberus fell on the plant and caused it to become a poisonous.
La Leyenda
de las plantas is a book that primarily relates legends, myths, folklore, and traditions regarding plants. There are images throughout the text that illustrate plants in alphabetical order usually according to region and their connection to a specific folklore. The Rose of Bahakavali is presumably an Indian legend related to roses.
The volume also includes a chapter on animal folklore and in one section the text explains about the legendary animals native to the Americas including the eagle, buffalo, vampire bat, jaguar, caiman, and of course the hippo.
La Leyenda de las plantas : mitos, tradiciones, creencias y teorías relativos a los vegetales / Carlos Mendoza ; obra adornada con preciosos cromotipograbados… del reputado artista Luis Labarta… Barcelona : Establ. Tipolitográfico Editorial de Ramón Molinas, [ca. 1880] can be found in Widener’s collection using Hollis.
Thanks to Alison Harris, Santo Domingo Project Manager for contributing this post.