HPL: Magical and Mundane Plants

Magical and Mundane Plants

(Note: Herbology class (see) has a separate page.)

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 that appear to have been invented entirely by JKR
	non-magical plants, not invented by JKR

ash magical plants
Used to make brooms (QA9).

Abyssinian shrivelfig magical plants
Second-year Herbology students work with these plants, learning to prune them (CS15). When peeled, shrivelfigs are used as an ingredient in Shrinking Solution (see).

aconite (monkshood, wolfsbane) mundane plants
This is a mundane plant with magical uses (see).

Alihotsy magical plants
Eating the leaves causes hysteria (FB).

asphodel mundane plants
This is a mundane plant with magical uses (see).

belladonna mundane plants
This is a mundane plant with magical uses (see).

bouncing bulb magical plants
Repotted during Herbology class; one wriggled free from Harry's grasp and banged him in the face (GF18). Mentioned in the Rumours advert for the Toots, Shoots 'n' Roots radio program (JKR).

bubotuber magical plants
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 (GF13). As Professor Sprout taught her fourth-year students, the pus reacts oddly with human skin. Undiluted, it will raise horribly painful boils on contact (GF28), but properly diluted and processed can be used to cure acne (GF13).

cabbage mundane plants
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 (CS4).

Cabbage, Chinese Chomping
See Cabbage, Chinese Chomping entry in the Encyclopedia of Potions.

cherry mundane plants
A species of tree that qualifies as a "wand tree", in that its wood can be used in the making of wands (HBP7).

The wand Neville's grandmother bought him to replace the wand destroyed during the battle of the Department of Mysteries is made of cherry wood (HBP7).

daisy mundane plants
This is a mundane plant with magical uses (see).

Devil's Snare magical plants
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 of the Philosopher's Stone (PS16).
"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.
NOTE: In the film (PS/f), 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 (Flitterbloom), 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 (OP22, OP25); 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 (PS16) (longer, since this one was much smaller), then somebody's lying about the details of Bode's death.)
Mentioned in the Rumours advert for the Toots, Shoots 'n' Roots radio program (JKR).

dittany mundane plants
One of the plants found in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi (PS14), and which historically has indeed been believed to have magic powers.

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

Lucius Malfoy's wand was made of elm (DH1).

Fanged Geranium magical plants
This plant, which will bite humans, turned up on Harry's Herbology O.W.L. (OP31). Mentioned in the Rumours advert for the Toots, Shoots 'n' Roots radio program (JKR).

Flitterbloom magical plants
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 (OP22, OP25). Mentioned in the radio program Toots, Shoots 'n' Roots (JKR).

Flutterby bush magical plants
This kind of bush quivers and shakes. The Flutterby bushes needed pruning in Herbology class (GF20)
"Flutterby" is an old name for "butterfly"

fluxweed mundane plants
This is a mundane plant with magical uses (see). Gillyweed, by Mary GrandPré

gillyweed magical plants
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 (GF26).

The effects of gillyweed were first dicovered by Elladora Ketteridge (fw/46). About a century later, gillyweed was re-discovered by Beaumont Marjoribanks (fw/54).

ginger mundane plants
This is a mundane plant with magical uses (see).

Gurdyroot magical plants
Resembles a green onion, and according to Luna is excellent for warding off Gulping Plimpies (HBP20). Mentioned in the radio program Toots, Shoots 'n' Roots (JKR).

hellebore mundane plants
This is a mundane plant with magical uses (see).

holly mundane plants
A species of tree that qualifies as a "wand tree", in that its wood can be used in the making of 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 (PS5).
According to www.botanical.com, 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 magical plants
Professor Sprout has some, but Lavender Brown, for one, prefers mundane daffodils (OP27). Mentioned in the radio program Toots, Shoots 'n' Roots (JKR).

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

Viktor Krum's wand is made of hornbeam (GF18).

knotgrass mundane plants
This is a mundane plant with magical uses (see).

lovage mundane plants
This is a mundane plant with magical uses (see).

mahogany mundane plants
A species of tree that qualifies as a "wand tree", in that its wood can be used in the making of wands (PS5).

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 (PS5).
JKR herself has said that if she had a wand, it would be mahogany with a phoenix feather core.

mallowsweet mundane plants
Centaurs burn this, observing the fumes and flames to refine the results of their stargazing (OP27). baby mandrake

Mandragora mundane plants
See Mandrake.

Mandrake (Mandragora) mundane plants
The Mandrake root is a powerful restorative. It forms an essential part of most antidotes, including one for Petrification (CS6). The Mandrake Restorative Draught returns people who have been Transfigured or cursed to their original state. Mandrake seedlings are tufty little plants, purplish green in colour (CS6) 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 (FB).
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 human-shaped instead of having the unusual roots that Mandrakes have. Or maybe Muggles just can't see them...-- MLW

maple mundane plants
A species of tree that qualifies as a "wand tree", in that its wood can be used in the making of wands (PS5).

Mimbulus mimbletonia magical plants
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. Like its owner, the plant grew a lot over that year (OP10, OP11, OP38).

monkshood mundane plants
See aconite.

nettle mundane plants
This is a mundane plant with magical uses (see).

oak mundane plants
A species of tree that qualifies as a "wand tree", in that its wood can be used in the making of wands. Oak is a common symbol of strength.

Hagrid's wand was (and what's left of it still is) made of oak (PS5).
Oaks grow in the Forbidden Forest (GF28).

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

puffapod magical plants
Fat pink pods with seeds that burst into flower if dropped (PA8).

pumpkin mundane plants
Hagrid maintains a pumpkin patch outside his hut, which produces the pumpkins used to decorate the Great Hall for the Hallowe'en 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.