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 potion-making 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.
First year students at Hogwarts learn about Devil's Snare in Herbology classes.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione encountered Devil's Snare in the chambers under the castle that hid the Philosopher's Stone:
"Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare... what did Professor Sprout say?-- it likes the dark and the damp..."
"So light a fire!" Harry choked.
"Yes -- of course -- but there's no wood!" Hermione cried, wringing her hands.
"HAVE YOU GONE MAD?" Ron bellowed. "ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?"
"Oh, right!" said Hermione, and she whipped out her wand, waved it, muttered something, and sent a jet of the same bluebell flames she had used on Snape at the plant. In a matter of seconds, the two boys felt it loosening its grip as it cringed away from the light and warmth. Wriggling and flailing, it unraveled itself from their bodies, and they were able to pull free.
"Lucky you pay attention in Herbology, Hermione," said Harry as he joined her by the wall, wiping sweat off his face.
"Yeah," said Ron, "and lucky Harry doesn't lose his head in a crisis-- 'there's no wood,' honestly."
NOTE: In the film, the Devil's Snare had somewhat different properties and was driven back by a bright sunlight spell. There cannot be bright sunlight spells in the Harry Potter universe, however, so this is one of many instances where the film is in error.
A cutting of Devil's Snare, passed off as a potted plant, was used to murder Broderick Bode in St. Mungo's.
The Daily Prophet reported that the Devil's Snare "instantly" throttled Bode when he touched it given what we know about Devil's Snare, is someone giving perjured testimony about the details of Bode's death? (If there was a witness competent to testify to how Bode died, and if Devil's Snare typically takes as long to kill as it took in SS (longer, since this one was much smaller), then somebody's lying about the details of Bode's death.)
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 "flutterby" is sometimes used in English as a play on the word "butterfly".
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. Snape keeps Gillyweed in his private stores; it is not available to the students.
ginger
The roots are an ingredient in Wit-Sharpening Potion.
hellebore
A poisonous plant occuring in several varieties.
This was the ingredient Harry forgot to add to his Draught of Peace.
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).
Harry's wand is the only wand in the series to date known to be made of holly.
According to [link], 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. he 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.
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.
Mimbletonia mimbulus
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.
This plant is a particular favorite of Neville Longbottom's, who received one as a present from his Great Uncle Algie for his 15th birthday.
nettle
An ingredient featured in a simple potion used to cure boils.
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.
Hagrid's wand was (and what's left of it still is) made of oak.
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.
Fleur Delacour's wand is made of rosewood.
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.
Lily Evans Potter's first wand was made of willow; Mr. Ollivander noted that it was good for charm work
Ron's second wand (the first actually fitted properly to him) was (and is) made of willow.
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 (SS8). Interesting that this traditional symbol of bitterness featured prominently in the first question Snape ever set Harry in Potions.
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.
Tom Riddle's wand is the only wand in the series to date known to be made of yew.
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.
~PORT KEYS!~
