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  • We acquired this object.

2019

2025

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Model, Menyanthes Trifoliate

This is a Model. It is dated 1875–1898. Its medium is wood, papier-mâché, cardboard, plaster, reed pith, metal, string, feathers, gelatin, glass and bone glue beads, cloth, metallic thread, horsehair, hemp, silk threads, paint, and shellac varnish. It is a part of the department.

The Menyanthes trifoliate, commonly known as buckbean, typically grows in shallow water and is native to Europe and Asia. The root is edible and has been used to make “famine bread,” a substitute for the food when grains are unavailable that has been described as nutritious but bitter. Produced in Scandinavia since the 15th century, this process of drying and grinding the rootstocks was described by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1832.

It is credited Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

Its dimensions are

H x W x D: 45.7 × 27.9 × 27.9 cm (18 × 11 × 11 in.)

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Botanical Lessons.

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/2318793588/ |title=Model, Menyanthes Trifoliate |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=10 March 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>