Odo Magdunensis and the Macer floridus

The Macer floridus (De viribus herbarum) is a medieval Latin didactic poem on the powers of medicinal plants, now generally attributed to Odo of Meung (Odo Magdunensis). In two principal redactions (≈60 and 77 chapters), it distils Plinian–Dioscoridean materia medica through monastic and—in the expanded version—Salernitan practice; motifs traceable to Constantinus Africanus’ Liber graduum are integrated. From the late eleventh/early twelfth century the poem circulated widely and generated a substantial vernacular reception, above all the thirteenth century “German Macer”. The textual dossier includes appended Spuria Macri that require separate treatment. Despite nineteenth century reliance on Choulant’s edition, a modern critical edition of the Latin text remains a desideratum. This brief outlines authorship, dating, transmission, translations, and current research trends.