Magical and Muggle Plants
Knowledge of magical plants, and how to properly use them and care for them, is very important for wizards, as Herbology is a required subject for all Hogwarts students for at least the first five years. Herbology is taught by Professor Pomona Sprout. The classes are held in greenhouses, where the plants are kept behind locked doors. First-year students only meet in greenhouse one, which has only ordinary magical plants, but second-year students begin working in greenhouse three, which has far more interesting and dangerous plants. The textbook required by first-year students, One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore, is still used by Harry in his sixth year [PS/SS5, 8, 14; GOF10; OOTP17; HBP25].
Misuse of plants can be quite a serious problem in the wizarding world; the entire third floor at St. Mungo's Hospital is devoted to "Potions and Plant Poisoning: Rashes, regurgitation, uncontrollable giggling, etc." [OOTP22].
Some of the following plants are magical, some are Muggle, and some are used in both worlds.
Abyssinian Shrivelfigs - second-year students pruned these plants in
Herbology; skinned shrivelfigs are used in a Shrinking Solution [COS15, PA7]
aconite (also knows as monkshood or wolfsbane) - a poisonous plant [PS/SS8]
Alihotsy - eating the leaves of this plant causes hysteria; the Glumbumble
produces the antidote for it [FB]
ash - a wood used in wandmaking; Ron Weasley's first wand and Cedric
Diggory's wand were made of ash [GOF18, JKR website]
asphodel - an ingredient of the Draught of Living Death [PS/SS8]
beechwood - a wood used in wandmaking [PS/SS5]
belladonna, essence of - this poisonous plant is part of a student's
standard potion-making kit [GOF10]; an advertisement in the Daily Prophet offered
belladonna as a hothouse herb for sale (the Daily Prophet, 9 February 1999)
Bouncing Bulbs - while Harry repotted this plant in Herbology, one twisted
out of his hand and hit him in the face [GOF18]
bubotuber - this plant looks like a thick, black, squirming, giant slug,
and it has large swellings filled with a yellowish-green pus that smells like
petrol; undiluted bubotuber pus causes horribly painful boils on human skin,
but properly diluted and processed it can be used to cure acne; Sacharissa Tugwood
discovered the pimple-curing properties of bubotuber pus [GOF13, 29; HBP5; Famous
Witches and Wizards cards)
cherry - a wand wood; Neville Longbottom's new wand was cherry and unicorn
hair [HBP7]
Chinese Chomping Cabbage - Hermione studied a diagram of this plant when
she was in the library looking up potion ingredients [OOTP16].
daisy roots, chopped -an ingredient in a Shrinking Solution [PA7]
Devil's Snare - plant that ultimately killed Broderick Bode was a Flitterbloom
[OOTP23, 25]
Flutterby Bush - this bush quivers; the students pruned it in Herbology
[GOF20]
fluxweed - although it is an ingredient found in the student cupboard, it
has to be picked at the full moon to be effective in the Polyjuice Potion [COS10,
11]
gillyweed - a Mediterranean water plant that looks like a bunch of slimy,
gray-green rat tails; when eaten, a person grows gills (to breathe underwater)
and webbed hands and feet (to swim faster); this transformation lasts for approximately
one hour; Dobby stole gillyweed from Snape's private stores; the effects of
gillyweed were first realized by Elladora Ketteridge and about a century later
was rediscovered by Beaumont Marjoribanks [GOF26, Famous Witches and Wizards
cards)
ginger roots- an ingredient in Wit-Sharpening Potion [GOF27]
Gurdyroot - a green onion-looking plant, which Luna Lovegood said was
excellent for warding off Gulping Plimpies [HBP20]
hellebore, syrup of - an ingredient Harry forgot to add to his Draught of
Peace [OOTP12]
henbane - an advertisement in the Daily Prophet offered henbane as a
hothouse herb for sale (the Daily Prophet, 9 February 1999)
holly - a wood used in making wands; Harry's wand is made of holly [PS/SS5]
honking daffodils - Sprout has some, but Lavender Brown prefers Muggle
daffodils [OOTP27]
hornbeam - a wood used in making wands; Viktor Krum's wand is made of
hornbeam [GOF18]
knotgrass - an ingredient in Polyjuice Potion [COS10, 11]
leaping toadstools - the second-year students worked with these in Herbology
[COS14]
lovage - a plant used in Confusing and Befuddlement Draughts [OOTP18]
mahogany - a wood used in making wands; James Potter's wand was made
of mahogany, which is excellent for Transfiguration [PS/SS5]
mallowsweet - centaurs burn this plant to observe the fumes for shapes
and symbols to predict the future [OOTP27]
Mandrake (Mandragora) - the Mandrake root is a powerful restorative "used
to return people who have been transfigured or cursed to their original state";
the Dugbog's favorite food is Mandrakes [FB; COS6, 9, 10, 12, 13, 16, 17]
maple - a wood used in making wands [PS/SS5]
Mimbulus mimbletonia - a rare plant native to Assyria, this plant resembles
a gray cactus and throbs slightly; instead of spines, it has boils that spew
Stinksap when punctured; the Stinksap is not poisonous but does smell like "rancid
manure" [OOTP10; HBP21]
mistletoe - at Christmas this was hung at Hogwarts; in his sixth year,
Harry took secret passageways to avoid it [PS/SS12; OOTP21; PA11; GOF23; OOTP21; HBP15]
monkshood (also knows as aconite or wolfsbane) - a poisonous plant [PS/SS8]
nettle - an ingredient in a simple potion used to cure boils; dried nettles
are used to make nettle tea; nettle wine was in two of the bottles in Snape's
task that guarded the Sorcerer's Stone [QA; PS/SS8, 16]
oak - a wood used in making wands; Hagrid's wand was made of oak, but he
keeps the pieces in his flowery pink umbrella; oaks grow in the Forbidden Forest
[PS/SS5,15; COS15; OOTP28]
puffapod - a plant with fat pink pods filled with beans that instantly
burst into flowers when dropped [PA8]
pumpkins - Hagrid has a pumpkin patch outside his hut, and he gives the
pumpkins some "help" so that they big enough to walk in by the Halloween
feast; pumpkin juice and pumpkin pasties are favorite wizarding foods [PS/SS6,
7; PA16, 21; GOF27]
rosewood - a wood used in making wands; Fleur Delacour's wand was made
of rosewood [GOF18]
rue, essence of - a strong-scented herb with bitter-tasting leaves; it
is an irritant similar to poison ivy; Ron had to keep taking this after he drank
poisoned mead; [HPB19]
sage - centaurs burn this plant to observe the fumes for shapes and symbols
to predict the future [OOTP27]
Screechsnap seedlings -a plant wiggles and squeaks if too much dragon
manure is put on it [OOTP25]
scurvy-grass - a plant used in Confusing and Befuddlement Draughts [OOTP18]
shrivelfigs, skinned - a plant used in a Shrinking Solution [COS15, PA7]
Snargaluff - a magical plant the sixth-year students studied; it looked
like a gnarled stump but viciously attacks anyone who tries to take out a pod,
which are filled with tubers wriggled like pale green worms [HBP14]
sneezewort - a plant used in Confusing and Befuddlement Draughts [OOTP18]
sopophorous bean - an ingredient in the Draught of Living Death, which
was a very powerful sleeping potion; it was the first potion that the N.E.W.T.
Potions class made; the Half-Blood Prince noted that it was better to crush
it with the flat side of a silver dagger than to cut it [HBP9]
umbrella-sized flowers - flowers that hang from the ceiling of greenhouse
three [COS6]
valerian roots - an ingredient in the Draught of Living Death, which
is a very powerful sleeping potion, which was the first potion that the N.E.W.T.
Potions class made [HBP9]
Venemous Tentacula [COS], Venomous Tentacula [OOTP, HBP] - a spiky, dark
red plant with long feelers and teeth; the seeds looked like "shriveled
black pods" and were a Class C Non-Tradeable Substance that Fred and George
Weasley needed for their Skiving Snackboxes [COS6, OOTP9, HBP11]
vine wood - Hermione's wand was made of vine wood and dragon heartstring
[JKR website]
Whomping Willow - a large, violent tree that attacks anyone who gets near
it [COS5; PA9, 10, 17, 18, 19, 21]
willow - a wood used in making wands; Lily Evans Potter's wand was made
of willow, which was good for charm work [PS5] Ron's second wand, the one actually
fitted for him, was willow [PA3]
wolfsbane [also knows as aconite or monkshood] - a poisonous plant [PS/SS8]
wormwood, infusion of - an ingredient of the Draught of Living Death
[PS8]
yew - a wood used in wandmaking; Lord Voldemort's wand was made of yew;
yew trees grow in the Forbidden Forest [PS/SS5, OOTP21]
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