Three bamboo shoots, from a De Materia Medica manuscript

This vigorous illustration of types of bamboo is from a De Materia Medica, a Greek treatise of the 1st century AD on the medicinal properties of plants, which became widely known in the ancient and medieval world. The manuscript to which this page belonged may have been made for Sultan Ibrahim Adil Shah of Bijapur (r.1579-1627).

To view a high-resolution version of this image and for further information please visit the Yousef Jameel Online Centre at the Ashmolean.