Magical Plants and Fungi

By Phydillia Spore
With a forward by Professor Sprout

I am so excited to be introducing Spores new catalog of Magical plants and fungi. Herbology is an important magical science used in healing, potions, and defense, Many magical plants can also be kept as pets. Students who study herbology can expect an exciting and unpredictable career as new plants and their magical uses are being discovered all the time. Beware of those venomous tentaculas and always wear your ear muffs when working with Mandrakes. Professor Sprout

Herbology is the study of magical plants and fungi, including their care and their
magical properties and uses. Some magical plants form important ingredients in potions, others have magical effects in their own right. At Hogwarts, Herbology is taught by Professor Sprout. She holds her classes in the greenhouses. For the Gryffindors, Herbology is a double class with the Hufflepuffs. The classes include plenty of hands-on activities, including pruning alihotsy bushes, repotting mandrakes, and harvesting bubotubor pus The plants listed herein range from the mundane to the fantastic. Some are magical plants, some common, and some are something in between. Editor's note: Some of these plants exist in Muggle folklore but are not necessarily credited with the attributes attributed to them in the wizarding world. Plants which appear to have been invented entirely by JKR are in italics while non-magical plants are listed in brown.

Abyssinian shrivelfig Second-year Herbology students work with these plants, learning to prune them When peeled, shrivelfigs are used as an ingredient in Shrinking Solution aconite (monkshood, wolfsbane) Extremely poisonous plant (hence the name
wolfsbane). The name monkshood comes from the shape of the flowers.

Alihotsy Eating the leaves causes hysteria asphodel A key ingredient of the Draught of Living Death this plant is traditionally
associated with the afterlife and the underworld.

belladonna Essence of this poisonous plant is part of a student's standard potionmaking kit

bouncing bulbs Repotted during Herbology class, one wriggled free from
Harry's grasp and banged him in the face.

bubotuber A bubotuber looks like a thick, black, giant slug (it even squirms
slightly, although it sticks vertically out of the soil) with many large shiny swellings on it that are filled with a yellow-green pus that smells like petrol. As Professor Sprout taught her fourth-year students, the pus reacts oddly with human skin. Undiluted, it will raise horribly painful boils on contact, but properly diluted and processed can be used to cure acne.

cabbage Hagrid maintains a cabbage patch for Hogwarts, presumably to supply the
school kitchens. According to Hagrid, flesh-eating slugs have been known to get into them

daisy Chopped, the roots are an ingredient in Shrinking Solution

Devil's Snare Devil's Snare is composed of a mass of soft, springy tendrils

and vines that possess some sense of touch. Devil's Snare uses its creepers and tendrils to ensnare anyone who touches it, binding their arms and legs and eventually choking them. The harder a person struggles against Devil's Snare, the more faster and more tightly it binds them; if they relax, it will not kill them as quickly. Devil's Snare prefers a dark, damp environment and shrinks away from

fire, so a well-placed flame spell such as Bluebell Flames will drive it away from its victims.

dittany One of the plants found in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi
and which historically has indeed been believed to have magic powers.

Fanged Geranium This plant, which will bite humans, turned up on

Harry's Herbology O.W.L.

Flitterbloom This plant apparently superficially resembles Devil's Snare in

appearance, but is non-violent; St. Mungo's healer Miriam Strout mistook the Devil's Snare that killed Broderick Bode for a Flitterbloom

Flutterby Bush This kind of bush quivers and shakes. The Flutterby
bushes needed pruning in herbology class

fluxweed An ingredient in Polyjuice potion, but has to be picked at the full

moon to be effective therein

gillyweed Native to the Mediterranean, this water plant looks like a bundle of
slimy, greyish-green rat tails. When eaten, gives a person gills to breathe underwater and gives them webbed hands and feet for swimming. The duration of the gillyweed effect is approximately one hour.

ginger The roots are an ingredient in Wit-Sharpening Potion hellebore A poisonous plant occuring in several varieties. holly A species of tree that qualifies as a "wand tree", in that its wood can be
used in the making of magic wands. Holly is a traditional symbol of resurrection, but in a much more upbeat sense than yew (being associated with Christmas rather than cemeteries helps its image considerably). Pliny attributed several interesting magical properties to it, among them that holly grants protection from poison, lightning, and witchcraft. Harry, of course, has had close encounters with poison on several occasions, most notably in the Chamber of Secrets, and we all know about the scar on his forehead.

honking daffodil Sprout has some, but Lavender Brown, for one, prefers
mundane daffodils

hornbeam A species of tree that qualifies as a "wand tree", in that its wood
can be used in the making of magic wands. Viktor Krum's wand is made of hornbeam.

knotgrass An ingredient in Polyjuice potion leaping toadstool The second year Herbology classes worked with these. lovage Used in Confusing and Befuddlement Draughts mallowsweet Centaurs burn this, observing the fumes and flames to refine the
results of their stargazing

Mandrake (Mandragora) The Mandrake root is a powerful restorative. It forms

an essential part of most antidotes, including one for Petrification. The Mandrake Restorative Draft returns people who are transfigured or cursed to their original state. Mandrake seedlings are tufty little plants, purplish green in color with what look like tiny babies growing where the roots would be. These creatures grow and develop over the course of several months until they mature and can be harvested and used for potions. The cry of the Mandrake is fatal to humans, so special care must be taken when growing them. Even as a baby, the Mandrake's howls can knock a person out for a couple of hours. The Dugbog is particularly fond of eating Mandrakes.
No, it's not an editorial oversight that the Mandrake is listed as a plant that JKR didn't make up. The real-life mandrake was once believed to have almost all the properties that Mandrakes have, the main exception being that the plant only sort of looks humanshaped instead of having the unusual roots that Mandrakes have. Or maybe Muggles just can't see them..

maple A species of tree that qualifies as a "wand tree", in that its wood can be used in
the making of magic wands.

mahogany A species of tree that qualifies as a "wand tree", in that its wood can be
used in the making of magic wands. James Potter's first wand was made of mahogany, and according to Mr. Ollivander was "excellent for Transfiguration", which should have been of help to James as an Animagus JKR herself has said that if she had a wand, it would be mahogany with a phoenix feather core.

mimbulus Mimbletonia Very rare, native to Assyria, this plant resembles a grey cactus, but with boils where the spines would have been. The boils are a defensive mechanism that spews Stinksap upon contact.

nettle An ingredient featured in a simple potion used to cure boils (SS8). monkshood See aconite. oak A species of tree that qualifies as a "wand tree", in that its wood can be used in the
making of magic wands. Oak is a common symbol of strength. Oaks grow in the Forbidden Forest

privet One of only two English representatives of the olive family, this very boring
plant is often grown in Muggle suburbs to form hedges.

puffapod Fat pink pods with seeds that burst into flower if dropped pumpkin Hagrid maintains a pumpkin patch outside his hut, which produces the
pumpkins used to decorate the Great Hall for the Halloween feast. Although the plants aren't inherently magical, Hagrid gives them some "help" so that the pumpkins swell to the size of garden sheds by the time the feast rolls around.

rosewood A species of tree that qualifies as a "wand tree", in that its wood can be
used in the making of magic wands.

sage Centaurs burn this, observing the fumes and flames to refine the results of their
stargazing.

scurvy-grass Used in Confusing and Befuddlement Draughts. sneezewort Used in Confusing and Befuddlement Draughts umbrella-sized flowers Hanging from the ceiling of greenhouse 3 venomous tentacula Spiky, dark red - teething, reaches out vines toward
people

willow A species of tree that qualifies as a "wand tree", in that its wood can be used
in the making of magic wands.

Whomping Willow A species superficially resembling the willow, this large,

violent tree attacks anyone who gets too close

wolfsbane See aconite.

wormwood A key ingredient of the Draught of Living Death. Traditional symbol

of bitterness.

yew A species of tree that qualifies as a "wand tree", in that its wood can be used in the
making of magic wands. Yew trees are symbolic of death and resurrection - the wood is particularly resistant to rotting - and were once a traditional feature of churchyards. Yew trees grow in the churchyard at Little Hangleton. Yew trees grow in parts of the Forbidden Forest. In a nice bit of foreshadowing, Harry noticed them in the clearing where Hagrid first taught the fifth years about thestrals .

Tools for Herbology

dragon dung compost -used for planting greenhouses -there are several greenhouses; first years only work in greenhouse 1, but in the second year the students work with more dangerous plants in greenhouse 3 dragon-hide gloves -often worn when handling dangerous plants such as bubotubers ear muffs (including a pair of fluffy pink ones) -used by students to protect themselves from plants like the Mandrake which can harm with the sounds they make; these ear muffs are apparently magical as they completely block all sound slug pellets - Hagrid has been known to carry a few of these around in his pockets Flesh-Eating Slug repellent -occasionally required to keep Flesh Eating Slugs out of Hogwarts' cabbages, these must be bought on Knockturn Alley, which suggests that they are somewhat Dark in nature Mooncalf dung -when collected at the full moon (probably the ONLY time you can collect it), this substance makes magical herbs and flowers grow extremely well. (FB)

books about herbology

Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean ,One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, Encyclopedia of Toadstools.