Il lessico botanico ne “Il Viaggio all’Indie Orientali” del Padre F. Vincenzo Maria di S. Caterina da Siena (1672)

In the middle of the XVII century the Discalced Carmelite Padre Vincenzo Maria of Saint Caterina of Siena visited India and, when he returned, drew up his travel account, titled Il Viaggio alle Indie Orientali. This work plays a key role in the context of Italian travel accounts about India. However, despite its importance, it is rather surprising that no significant research has been conducted to investigate in deep this text, edited for the last time in 1683. The aim of the present paper is to pursue its analysis, in particular offering an etymological research and a critical examination of a consistent part of the botanical terms mentioned and explained by Padre Vincenzo Maria. As we will show, many of these terms appeared for the first time, in an Italian text and in some few cases in an European one, in Padre Vincenzo Maria’ s work.