Herbology Club: Rewriting the Textbook
Mar. 18th, 2009 06:20 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png)
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Your assignment: Rewriting the Textbook
Details: The old Herbology textbook is a bit out of date, and we've been asked to help update a few entries!
Pick a plant from THIS LIST. Make sure it isn't a plant that somebody hasn't already written about - first come, first served! I don't mind if it's magical, or a wand tree, or a mundane plant you just throw into potions. There's over fifty plants listed, so there shouldn't be any problems getting one!
Please try to keep your entry as accurate possible. Stating maple is a tree commonly used for wands, grows up to 45 m and found across the world isn't hard. However, I won't bite your head off if you make up a random scientific name (if J.K. can use Dog Latin without impunity, so can we!), add that a species in Africa is prone to spontaneous combustion or note that its sap boosts Love Potion effects. I'm leaving the accuracy/creativity judgment call to you guys.
Things your entry must have:
Name: Common and scientific. Feel free to make up the latter.
Size: Height/breadth? Preferably in centimetres/metres, but I know this can be so hard for some of you. >.>;
Colour: I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO EXPLAIN THIS
Location: NEITHER THIS
Variations: How many species are there? Any popular/special ones we should know?
Suggested Magical Use(s): Edible? Potions ingredient? More effective than Aunt Marge's dogs at fending off Death Eaters?
Author's Note(s): Anything else you want to add about this plant?
Optional Image: You may include a 100x100 image of your plant, but it isn't necessary.
Got your act together? Submit your assignment using this handy-dandy form!
Points: 10 for participation.
Due Date: Wednesday, March 25, evening EST
Not afraid to get your hands dirty? Join us in the greenhouse!
no subject
Date: 2009-03-19 09:47 pm (UTC)Size: 50-120 cm in height.
Colour: The Asphodel most commonly used in magical applications is the White Asphodel (Asphodelus Albus), with white flowers with six elongated petals. Another common magical asphocel is Branched Asphodel (Asphodelus ramosus), with yellow blossoms.
Location: Commonly found in the meadows of Central Spain, southwest France, and the southern Alps. It can also be found in Libya, but is less common there.
Variations: The family Asphodelaceae includes many related flowering plants, and any of these may be referred to by the common name Asphodel. It is best to proceed with caution when experimenting with potions involving Asphodel, until use of the correct Asphodel has been determined. Either White or Branched Asphodels may be intended, and the substitution of one for another may require brewing adjustments or unintended side effects.
Suggested Magical Use(s): Asphodel is one of the key ingredients in the Draught of Living Death. Potions recipes have been found using both White or Branched Asphodel, but the Branched variations are consistently longer acting and inflict more permanent conditions. White asphodel Draughts cause only a deep sleep, while Branched Asphodel Draughts induce a true "living death" which may last for years. Thus Branched Asphodel is classed as a restricted substance by the ministry, and its usage strictly regulated.
Author's Note(s): In Muggle mythology, Asphodel was the favorite food of the dead. The Asphodel Meadows were a section of the afterlife where the souls of those who lived lives of near equal good and evil spent their eternity. It was an area of utter neutrality, where the dead continue on in their uninteresting monotony of their lives even in death. This fragment of muggle legend shows a curious parallel to its magical purposes, and suggests that Muggles may have been aware of Asphodel's magical properties at some time in their history.
Image:
Kimberly//Ravenclaw