A star-of-Bethlehem and other plants

Time for a bit of a rest. This drawing centers on a cluster of star-of-Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatum), with curling leaves echoing those seen in Leonardo's studies for the mythological kneeling Leda and in many copies of the lost painting, where the plant softens the edge of the rock supporting the swan. A similar device appears near the legs of the infant Saint John the Baptist in the The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne cartoon, created around the same period.

Beside the star-of-Bethlehem are wood anemones (Anemone nemorosa), while below them appears sun spurge (Euphorbia helioscopia), carefully observed with details of its seedheads. Although the star-of-Bethlehem is slightly stylized, the loosely scattered blades of grass among the anemones suggest that Leonardo da Vinci studied these plants directly in nature. 

P.S. Do you love house plants as much as you love art? Here are plants in paintings!