Herbology (Closed)

[DownAzzLette]

Once done receiving the instructions on what to do gets up and grabs one of the potted plants. Looks at it for a few moments before getting up and goes to some of the moss and grabs a bundle of it. Then walks back to desk form a pillow of sorts out of the moss. Then places the bag on top opened. Then looks at the Puffapod. Takes a very sharp scalpel and cuts a line into the pod big enough for my hand to fit into. Then scoops some of the beans out and places them into the bag. Continues to do so until it is cleaned out. Then takes the bag and goes place it gently on top of the Professors desk. Walks back to my desk and goes put the moss back and takes a seat before raising my hand. Professor what will happen to the puffapod now that we've cleaned out all the beans and have cut it some?  

[techpriest35]

*looks at puffapod*
"hmm does magic cut through the pod? we shall see"
*uses severing charm *
*holds bag under puffapod and pours the seeds into bag*
*8 beans fall to the floor and begin trying to grow*  

[DownAzzLette]

Notices what James did and just shakes head while chuckling.  

[Junimaia]

DownAzzLette

Once done receiving the instructions on what to do gets up and grabs one of the potted plants. Looks at it for a few moments before getting up and goes to some of the moss and grabs a bundle of it. Then walks back to desk form a pillow of sorts out of the moss. Then places the bag on top opened. Then looks at the Puffapod. Takes a very sharp scalpel and cuts a line into the pod big enough for my hand to fit into. Then scoops some of the beans out and places them into the bag. Continues to do so until it is cleaned out. Then takes the bag and goes place it gently on top of the Professors desk. Walks back to my desk and goes put the moss back and takes a seat before raising my hand. Professor what will happen to the puffapod now that we've cleaned out all the beans and have cut it some?

What happens to all puffapods when they reach this maturity: they die. ...Well, not right away of course, but puffapods have a fairly short lifespan, which probably explains why their beans are so quick to sprout. If the beans weren't collected in this fashion, the pod would eventually soften to make it easy for some form of nature to puncture a hole in it, spilling out the beans into the next puffapod life.  

[Grey Gardens]

Megan puts her earmuffs on firmly and the puts on her brand new gloves.
She stares at her Mandrake root for a minute getting herself ready for the screeching noise that would soon fill the air.
She got the dirt and the brand new pot ready and quickly pulled the Mandrake root out of it's old pot and into it's new one. She shovelled the fresh dirt over top of the root until the screaming died down.

Megan took her gloves off, grabbed her quill and then filled out the sheet :

Herbology II
Last Name, First Name : Megan Willowind (Grey Gardens)
House Hufflepuff  

[Junimaia]

Quick Announcement: I've extended the due date for Level I & II. Lesson 2 will go up on April 19th.  

[DownAzzLette]

Oh i see. Wow. Gets up and collects things before heading out.  

[Junimaia]

Lesson 2
Due: 05.02.10

- Herbology I -

Devil's Snare

"Today's lesson will be a lecture, so get your parchment and quills ready to take notes. I will be speaking to you about Devil's Snare. Since we do have quite a few younger students in this class, it would be far too dangerous for me to show you the plant in person, however..."

The professor pulls out a somewhat small potted plant, and places it on the table for everyone to see. The plant isn't all that pretty, but features a complex array of springy tendrils and vines all massed together with a soft moss-like quality. "This is a Flitterbloom. Like the Devil's Snare, these plants are virtually identical in appearance, but unlike the Devil's Snare," she prods at the plant with her wand; the plant just sits there, "Flitterblooms are completely harmless." She passes the pot to the nearest student and gestures to pass it along for everyone to get a good look.

"Devil's Snare is infamously known for it's lethal abilities. This plant has a keen sense of touch, which means you should always be wary when going near a Devil's Snare. The plant is highly reactive to any sort of touch, which makes for a fantastic defense mechanism against animals that may try to eat the plant. A single brush of movement against the plant and it SNATCHES YOU WITHIN IT'S GRASP! It's tendrils twist around the victim, and holds on tight. The more you struggle against it, the the tighter it grips you until finally..." the Professor drifts off.

"During the time of Voldemort's war, someone assassinated Broderick Bode, a patient residing at St. Mungo's Hospital, by sending him a potted Devil's Snare as a get well gift. The only reason such a dangerous plant was able to get past security, was because the nurse who checked it mistook the plant for one of these," she nods towards the Flitterbloom. "Poor bloke never had a chance. He was strangled to death upon touching the plant."

"Fortunately for us, the Devil's Snare does have a weakness. Devil's Snare is a type of moss, and like many kinds of moss, it prefers to grow in cold damp climates. Because of this fact, it fears two things above all else: fire, and direct sunlight. The mere presence of these two things causes Devil's Snare vines to immediately recoil in an attempt to save itself from the heat. This knowledge should prove useful if you ever come across Devil's Snare at the worst possible moment. It would take a great deal of power and time to conjure sunlight from a wand though, so you're better off using fire spells than sun spells if you're to use magic against it at all. That's all I have to say for today. If you have any questions, ask them now. Homework is on the board..."

- Herbology I Homework -
(1 pts.)1. Devil's Snare is a highly dangerous plant. Why?
(1 pts.)2. Which plant looks just like a Devil's Snare?
(1 pts.)3. Devil's Snare was disguised as this plant to assassinate which patient at St. Mungo's?
(1 pts.)4.What do the daisies of last lesson and Devil's Snare have in common, besides the fact that they're plants?
(1 pts.)5. What does Devil's Snare fear?
(1 pts.)6. Devil's Snare is a type of what kind of plant?
(2 pts.)7. A Devil's Snare is trying to strangle you! Quick! What do you do?
(2 pts.)8. Knowing what you do about Devil's Snare, what sort of place would you not find it growing in? And why?

- Herbology II -

Dittany

"Just a lecture today, but a very informative lecture, especially if you are in need of any medicinal type plants. Out with the notes please, I will be speaking to you all about Dittany, also known as White Dittany or the Burning Bush. Ah, yes, I see that might have interested some potion makers ears. Dittany is a magical plant with powerful restorative properties. As such, it is used in several restorative potions like the Wiggenweld Potion, for example, which awakens a person from a magically induced sleep. However, Dittany is also quite potent by itself. It has been used to treat many types of injuries ranging from simple scratches and bites to magical injuries like splinching. Witches and wizards who wish to store this plant, tend to crush the dittany and bottle it for safe keeping. In bottled form, dittany appears as a brown liquid."

"Dittany is more commonly found around southern Europe, north Africa, and southern and central Asia. Even so, the herb is a bit of a rarity due to plant protection laws in place to prevent over harvesting. I'm afraid I can't show you what it looks like firsthand, but I do have a picture. Because of the flowers, you'll often hear this plant being called White Dittany, to differentiate between another kind of dittany which only grows wild on the greek island of Crete. Cretan Dittany has leaves that are greyish green and covered in a white velvety fuzz. Its flowers range in colour from a pale pink to purple. Like White Dittany, the Cretan Dittany also bears restorative properties, but is generally better suited for treating things like stomach aches and other digestive problems, because unlike White Dittany, Cretan Dittany is edible. Around these parts, Cretan Dittany is also better known for its use in divination and love potions."

"White Dittany gets its nickname, the Burning Bush, from the flammable vapours the plant releases into the air as it grows. The vapours originate from the medicinal oils within the plant. That's all for today. Homework's up on the board."

- Herbology II Homework -
(2 pts.)1. Dittany is a protected plant under international wizarding law. Why do you think that is?
(1 pts.)2. What does dittany look like when bottled?
(2 pts.)3. Name White Dittany's nickname, and explain why it has this nickname.
(1 pts.)4. Describe the similarities between White Dittany and Cretan Dittany.
(4 pts.)5. Describe the differences between White Dittany and Cretan Dittany.

- Herbology III -

Geraniums

"Notes out please. Geraniums, also known as storksbills, is a common name referring to flowering plants of the Pelargonium genus, a scientific classification that encompasses some 200 species of plants, both magical and non-magical in nature."

She levitates a trough on to a table in the middle of the room. The trough carries inside it a variety of plants in it, some of which having larger stem growths than others as well as slightly variant forms of leaves, but all of them are flowering. Flower colours seen include shades of white, pink, red, orange-red, fuchsia to deep purple. "In their flowering state, it would be difficult to guess why they would ever get the nickname, 'Storksbills'. But that is because they receive this name from their fruiting stage. Several types of geraniums grow beak-like columns after they've been pollinated. When ripe, the column eventually springs open to cast out the seeds. The storksbill name refers to when the column is unsprung, as certain geranium fruits look similar to the long bill of a stork."

"These plants originated from South Africa; as such these delicate plants are resistant to drought but don't hold up well to frosty conditions. Because of their beauty and lifestyle, geraniums are a popular choice for gardeners to plant in their yard or pot inside their homes. But be warned: drought isn't the only thing geraniums are resistant to..."

She puts on her dragon hide gloves, and walks up to a patch of blue geraniums, giving them a light poke. Suddenly the geraniums leap forward, snapping at the professor's fingers ferociously with their little pollen-producing anthers. "Behold, the Fanged Geranium. I'd be needing a few bandages right now if it weren't for these gloves." She continues to lightly stroke the flowers as they continue to n** at her fingers. "Bet you couldn't tell these geraniums were going to do that. In fact, Fanged Geraniums have a reputation for serving as a natural deterrent against garden pests and other unsavoury folk mucking about in wizard gardens. Unfortunately in the gardening world, these geraniums are also infamous for getting mixed up with normal innocent geraniums in stores more often on purpose by some wily wizard looking to make some mischief rather than by accident. On more than one occasion, the Ministry's Department of Magical Accidents & Catastrophes have had to step in to settle matters where a muggle's newly bought geranium garden tried to make a snack out of him. A hefty fine is issued to wizards caught exposing muggles to fanged geraniums."

At this point she stops stroking the flowers, and takes hold of one of them at the base of the flower. "You're probably wondering how anyone can possibly tell the difference between a fanged geranium and a normal one. Well, I'll show you." Using her other hand, she gently bends away the petal to show the flower's stringy filaments in plain sight flailing about. "If you remember your flower anatomy, you'll notice the anthers (which produce the pollen) aren't very thick. Quite the opposite really, especially at the ends you'll see they are almost needle-like in shape, a good form for teething into things. Normal geraniums get thicker anthers. ...Of course, if you don't trust your own powers of observation, the easiest way to tell these geraniums apart is by giving it a small poke on the petals... erm... preferably with a properly gloved hand or perhaps a stick, of course. Even with the biting problem, Fanged Geraniums only teeth until their anthers are ready to pollinate, and thus they lose their sharpness in favor of reproduction.

I think I've said all that needs saying. Any questions? Homework's on the board.

- Herbology III Homework -
(1 pts.) 1. What's the scientific category geraniums are associated with?
(2 pts.)2. What's a geranium's nickname, and why does it have this nickname?
(1 pts.)3. What sort of penalty is issued to wizards who present muggles with fanged geraniums?
(3 pts.)4. How does one tell apart fanged geraniums from normal ones?
(2 pts.)5. When do fanged geraniums lose their bite?
(1 pts.)6. Geraniums originated from what country?  

[DownAzzLette]

Kamalia-Mingan walks into the Green House and takes a seat. Pulls out notepad and quill. Takes notes and watches the Professor.  

[techpriest35]

*takes notes then woorks on the homework*  

[techpriest35]

"professor i have a question dragon gloves are supposed to be really good for protection right and dragons are resistent to most magics and their scales are harder than most blades so how do they cut the dragon hide to make the gloves that we wear?"  

[DownAzzLette]

Glances at James. You know i heard or read somewhere that they use Diamond blades to cut the hide. But i could be wrong. I'd actually would love to know the answer myself.  

[techpriest35]

"the thing is dragon hide is supposed to be harder than diamonds thats why i cant think of anything that can cut them yet we manage somehow"  

[Grey Gardens]

Megan overheard the conversation and joined in with her opinion, "You guys, they may just call these dragon gloves and they may not actually be made out of actual dragon scales. If you say dragon scales are as strong, even stronger than diamonds, then the gloves may just be made out of something similar to the strength of actual dragon scales," Megan said. "Either that or you've been misinformed on how strong dragon scales are..."  

[DownAzzLette]

No idea then. Glances at Megan. True but what if it was the hide. You know have the scales sheded off of the skin. Kind of like how the make leather. shrugs I don't know. I'm just asking and thinking out loud.