[x] Plant Details :: Stevia, but more commonly known as sweet leaf, is a member of the sunflower family.
[x] Common Uses :: flavoring for meats, salads, omeletes, and vinegars. Also used in jellies and teas.
[x] Personal Use :: due to it being related to oregano, I have only ever used this herb for flavoring when I occasionally cook savory dishes.

This particular herb really is just for seasoning and doesn't have any real medical properties. My mother sometimes used the flower heads for crafts. Afraid I really do not have much to add on this particular herb.

[x] Plant Details :: Agastache atropurpurecens is known by many other common names including Korean Mint, Blue Licorice, and Purple Giant Hyssop. It typically blooms from July to September, so it was a pleasant surprise to find some still in the green houses.
[x] Common Uses :: cooking and tea making, but is also used as a medicinal and ornamental plant
[x] Personal Use :: I actually have not used this plant too much, but my grandmother used to use it often in ointments. She once told me that it was among the 50 fundamental herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine.

What I like best about this herb is the smell. The leaves and flowers have a mint-like scent, which is actually really nice in tea. I've only ever used it once - since I prefer sweet leaf's flavor - but it is pleasant. I've read that this plant is used in a Korean pancake dish called Jeon, which I've had once. Butterflies are attracted to this plant, so it is sort of relaxing to sit near them. Take in the minty scent and watch butterflies.

[x] Plant Details :: Helichrysum arenarium, also known as Immortelle or Everlasting, is a December holiday herb that represents 'life everlasting' and is a part of the sunflower family. It is found naturally in Eastern France to Denmark as well as on the mountains of Uzbekistan.
[x] Common Uses :: the flowers in teas and it can also be used for skincare. The plant also promotes new cell growth and the flowers are used in the treatment of gall bladder disorders.
[x] Personal Use :: my grandmother would use this plant for decorative purposes in December, but only once it had been dried. She would also use the flowers to make hand and facial creams because of its anti-wrinkle and skin hydration properties.

I actually have never used this herb myself, so I do not have much of a personal reflection other than what I have observed from my grandmother. I recognized the flower in the greenhouse because I helped her dry them in December. Now that I know they are in the greenhouse, I am tempted to try and brew some tea with them. Once thing that I find appealing about this plant is its meaning, life everlasting. Sometimes this flower is used in arrangements that we take to cemeteries.

[x] Plant Details :: Osmanthus fragrans, also known as sweet olive or tea olive, is an evergreen shrub or small tree that produces small orange flowers in late summer and autumn and are native to Asia.
[x] Common Uses :: it is mostly used in teas and jams, but it can also be used to protect clothes from insects
[x] Personal Use :: my mother used it often in jam

In Japan we call this plant 金木犀 kinmokusei and I never really thought about using it for anything other than its smell. Kinmokusei has always been my favorite part of autumn. It was sort of something that marked the official transition between summer and autumn. The scent is sort of a cross between ripe peaches and apricots, but even that doesn't begin to describe the scent. While it is nice in teas, jams, and other such things...I sort of prefer to just sit under them come autumn and enjoy the smell of the flowers.

[x] Plant Details :: Burdock refers to a group of biennial thistles that are used for medicinal and culinary uses and also gave inspiration to the creation of velcro.
[x] Common Uses :: often use for digestive and appetite aid and mainly the root portion of the plant is used
[x] Personal Use :: burdock was always used to make burdock salad and other dishes in my home. Sometimes we would thinly slice it and dry it to make chips.

My favorite way to use this herb is to make something called gobo salad. My brothers and I used to make it all the time with carrots and a mayonnaise based dressed with sesame seeds. The root is mainly used, but grandfather sometimes spoke about using leaves for some medical practices...but I unfortunately never really paid too much attention. The seeds are also useful too I've read, mainly in regards to helping cure skin diseases. I don't know much about its medical uses, but I do know that it is rather delicious to eat.

[x] Plant Details :: Trifolium pratense, more commonly known as red clover, is a perennial plant native to Europe, Western Asia and northwest Africa
[x] Common Uses :: it is commonly used to purify the blood but can also be used to provide relief from coughs and bronchitis. It is primarily used for medical purposes and not culinary.
[x] Personal Use :: I actually have no personal use with this herb, unless you count making chain necklaces and headbands

I never really thought about clover as a herb until I found it in my textbook. It had always just been a plant that I used to play with and not anything more than that. You can imagine my surprise when I read that this particular plant can be used for a variety of medicinal purposes, such as the treatment of bronchitis, burns, cancers, ulcers, sedation, and asthma - among other things. It is also used in an eight-herb essiac tea which I would rather like to try someday.

[x] Plant Details :: a rose is a woody perennial flowering plant with over 100 species.
[x] Common Uses :: mainly roses are used for decoration and their scent for perfumes, but also in medicines (namely rose hip) and the petals are used in teas.
[x] Personal Use :: I often use the petals in teas and then the rose hips for jam. My grandfather once taught me how to make rose petal honey. When roses bloom, you just drop their petals into a wide-mouth jar and pour honey over them and let them sit for however long you want - or however long you can wait.

Roses are one of those plants that you don't usually think of as a herb. I think that maybe this has to do with how colorful they are. At least my image of herbs are that they are all shades of green and brown, so something as colorful as a rose sort of slips out of the radar. Still, roses can be used in supplements and rose hips are a minor source of Vitamin C and in 2012 were given the title of International Herb of the Year.

[x] Plant Details :: this is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed. Ther difference between oatstraw and oats is in their nutritive properties. Oatstraw is lower in calories and higher in Vitamin A (carotenes) and Vitamin C, than the grain alone.
[x] Common Uses :: oatmeal and teas
[x] Personal Use :: I actually have no real personal experience with oatstraw...besides it appearing in my oatmeal in the Great Hall

I've read that oatstraw nourishes strong nerves, helps people deal with stress (Vitamin B complex), and also helps maintain restful sleep patterns. Seems like the right sort of herb to use to make tea this term. I think I might start drinking a cup every night until I am done with my NEWTs.

[x] Plant Details :: known as Herb-of-Grace, rue is a perennial plant native to the Balkan Peninsula in southeastern Europe
[x] Common Uses :: it is often used as a decorative plant and its bitter leaves are sometime added to salads, sandwiches, and vinegar.
[x] Personal Use :: I personally have no experience with this plant

This herb is, unfortunately to a certain extent, a herb that I have to reply completely on information in books to understand its uses. According to my research, rue is used in Brazil as the key ingredient in homemade herbal cough syrups. When this happens it is mashed with caramelized sugar and honey, which actually sounds sort of delicious. It is sort of ironic that despite its medical benefits, exposure to it causes Phytophotodermatitis that then makes the skin burst out in burn-like blisters on the skin. Suppose you should always wear dragonhide gloves when dealing with this plant.

[x] Plant Details :: also referred to as the starflower, this is a plant that produces edible flowers.
[x] Common Uses :: The plant is used primarily for culinary and medicinal uses, abut commercial cultivation is mainly as an oilseed
[x] Personal Use :: I often used the flowers at home in salads...or I would just eat them with my brothers while picking them. Mother would sometimes freeze them in ice cubes and then put them in drinks as an edible decoration.

After a bit of digging in the library, I also found out that this plant has some very beneficial medical properties. It can help with hyperactive gastrointestinal, respiratory and cardiovascular disorders along with helping with the regulation of one's metabolism and the hormonal system. Definately a flower that us girls should take into consideration.

[x] Plant Details :: Marjoram, which is synonymous with oregano in Middle Eastern countries, is a cold-sensitive perennial herb or undershrub with sweet pine and citrus flavors
[x] Common Uses :: flavoring for meats, salads, omeletes, vinegars. Also used jellies and teas.
[x] Personal Use :: due to it being related to oregano, I have only ever used this herb for when I occasionally cook savory dishes.

This is one of those herbs that really does seem to just be used for culinary purposes and doesn't have any medicinal ones. My other sometimes used the flower heads for crafts and flower arranging, but other than that it was not one that was used often. I'm afraid I really do not have anything further to offer on this particular herb.

[x] Plant Details :: flowering herbaceous plant with yellow button flowers whose leaves and flowers are toxic if consumed in large quantities
[x] Common Uses :: medicinal purposes, insect repellents, formerly used as a flavoring for puddings and omelets
[x] Personal Use :: I have no personal experience with this herb

Due to a serious lack of experience with this herb, I once again had to rely on books for information. This little herb has quite a history and is a very useful one! It can be used as an organic insecticide. It was also packed into coffins, wrapped in funeral winding sheets, and tansy wreaths were sometimes placed on the dead as a worm warding type of embalming. It was even used during the American colonial period on meats to repel insects and delay spoilage. Usage of this herb goes as far back as the ancient Greeks in the 8th century. From a historical perspective, I find this herb to be fascinating and I rather wish that I had come across it sooner.

[x] Plant Details :: Peppermint is a cross between cross watermint and spearmint, which makes it a hybrid mint and is typically found in moist environments. Interesting to note is that because it is a hybrid it is incapable producing seeds and there for must reproduce vegetatively.
[x] Common Uses :: long time medicinal use as well as a flavoring agent
[x] Personal Use :: flavoring in teas, ice cream, confectionery and for it's smell

I have had A LOT of exposure to this particular herb ever since I was little. Mostly due to it being used in the teas my grandmother would make along with in cookie and other sweets recipes. I find it interesting that the aroma of peppermint has been found to enhance memory, which makes sense why mother was always crushing fresh peppermint and setting it beside me while I studied - something I still do today.

[x] Plant Details :: Marshmallow is a plant that is native to Africa and whose roots are most commonly used to make a confection. It has leaves that are soft and velvety on both sides and produces pale colored flowers
[x] Common Uses :: medicinal and ornamental while roots are used to make confectionery
[x] Personal Use :: None - unless you count eating marshmallows

I only ever knew that this plant had it's roots used to make marshmalllows - the fluffy white sweet that Selina taught me go wonderfully in hot cocoa. However, upon some further research I was surprised to see that the root has been used since the Middle Ages in the treatment of sore throats! The flowers are also sometimes boiled and added to salads as a sort of colorful edible treat. I personally like the root being turned into marshmallow fluff. Selina has made me a fan.

[x] Plant Details :: deciduous shrub found in eastern North America, from Newfoundland west to Ontario and Ohio, and south to North Carolina. It produces berries that are important for Yellow-rumped Warblers.
[x] Common Uses :: wax candles and scent
[x] Personal Use :: none

I purchased a candle made from this berry last Hogsmeade visit and it was a fantastic smell! I can see why this this plant is used for it's scent. I also like that this particular plant is important to the ecosystem and is important to a specific species of birds. Makes you come to appreciate nature so much more when you see the way things are interconnected.

[x] Plant Details :: this flowering perennial plant is native to Europe, North Africa and Western Asia. It often lies flat on the ground and produces small white flowers.
[x] Common Uses :: flavoring agent
[x] Personal Use :: moth deterrent

Grandmother used to dry these and keep them in the closet to keep moths away and mother picked up the habit from her as well. I will admit, in the winter months I do this at Hogwarts as well. However, I have read that you can also use this plant in ice cream and a herbal tea for a gentle sedative effect. Maybe I should use this more in tea to help me sleep at night now that the term is coming to a close and...I am a little apprehensive about leaving. However, you need to be careful with how much of this plant you use too much of it it can cause headaches and, in extreme cases, comas. So...maybe I will just stick to using it to keep moths away.

Plant Details - The mustard plant (Brassica juncea) is a flowering perennial that can grow up to 1 meter in height. It produces thin, edible leaves and small yellow flowers, which are followed by half moon pods of seeds.
Plant Use - Both leaves and seeds are edible. The seeds are often ground up and mixed with vinegar or other substances to create a common condiment. A pungent oil can be distilled by grinding the seeds and distilling in water - depending on the distillation, this oil can be used for cooking, medicinal use, as an essential oil, or as an irritant.
Personal Use - My family consumes mustard leaves in salads and as garnishes, due to my mother's interest in gardening and her rather prolific collection of herbaceous plants. I've personally seen the mustard plaster used in dealing with lung ailments and digestive disorders, although with varying success.

Reflection - Mustard is one of those plants that hides behind delicate little flowers and an innocent facade, and yet there is noting timid or demure in the pungent scent, strong flavor, or extraordinary usefulness of this particular plant. I'm reminded that in the language of flowers, the mustard plant speaks 'indifference', which I have always found odd. Indifference is wishy-washy, with no clear opinion either way, and there is nothing wishy-washy in mustard.

I would be very interested in looking into the use of mustard in potions, especially in those used for healing. Because of its potency, limited skin contact with mustard paste is important, but a magical use may be able to extrapolate the positive effects and minimize the negative.

Plant Details - This perennial plant (Filipendula ulmaria) has reddish stems and can grow to a height of 1-2 meters. The leaves are dark, while the undersides are lighter and a bit furry, and the flowered tops contain clusters of small white flower clusters. Meadowsweet has many names, including Queen of the Meadow and Bridewort.
Plant Use - The leaves and flowers are edible and have an aromatic quality, thus the plant is often included in potpourri or strewing herbs. Flavor-wise, the plant has a slight almond flavor that makes it a nice addition to jams, meads, and the like. Meadowsweet root has been used to create Muggle aspirin and other anti-inflammatories, and the leaves can be used to aid in digestion.
Personal Use - My father brews several different pain-relieving potions that make use of meadowsweet as a primary ingredient, which causes a point of contention when he harvests my mother's entire yielding for experimentation. The flowers are also a common addition in bouquets my mother makes, and we use it for flavoring when canning.

Reflection - For ages and ages, Muggles have known how useful meadowsweet is - medicinally, magically, and gastronomically. One of the major medical innovations in the last century, the creation of the painkiller and anti-inflammatory known as aspirin (and others in that family of medicines), relies entirely on compounds found in meadowsweet.

Plus it just smells awesome. I really cannot fathom why meadowsweet, in the language of flowers, speaks 'uselessness', when it is obviously the complete opposite.

Plant Details - The perennial rhubarb plant has large triangular dark green leaves and produces small clusters of flowers that range in color from white to pink. The plant grows from a short, thick rhizome (the fleshy part of the stem found underground).
Plant Use - The main part of the plant used are the fleshy leaf stalks, known as petioles. Although the stalks can be eaten like celery, they're often boiled down with sugar and used in pies and jams. They can also be pickled or added to savory dishes. The petioles are also considered a laxative and dieting aid. The root produces a dark brown color suitable for dyeing. Rhubarb leaves are considered toxic and should not be ingested.
Personal Use - All parts of the rhubarb plant are used in my home. The petioles are used for pies, especially this time of year, and the roots and leaves are ingredients that my father uses in potions. The leaves in particular, although toxic, can be used in magical concoctions without danger to those ingesting it.

Reflection - I almost feel bad for rhubarb, at least in culinary uses. The plant has very little flavor of its own, which means that it relies on the additives to give it purpose. In the case of pies and jams, the sugar. It's interesting that rhubarb wasn't really considered for culinary purposes until sugar became readily available, which points to my initial conclusion: rhubarb has no personality.

Plant Details - Common rue grows as a tall and stalky plant, and it produces bluish leaves and yellow flower clusters. The leaves are narrow and elongated.
Plant Use - Rue leaves, especially fresh ones, are often used in cooking, although it has a very bitter taste and should be used sparingly to avoid gastronomic distress. The seeds and berries are also ingested in various parts of the world. Although contact exposure to rue leaves can cause blisters, the plant is used in home remedies as a cough suppressant and is often used ornamentally in gardens. Rue also has uses as a pesticide.
Personal Use - We don't use rue much, as my little brother has a weird allergy to it, but we used to grow it in the garden because it's a very pretty hedge plant. My adoptive sister is Bulgarian, and she knows of recipes that use the plant, but we obviously cannot make those anymore either. Also, my father says that rue leaves are like a reverse-catnip, but I've never tried that out before.

Reflection - In the language of flowers, rue means disdain. I figure that this is one of the most fitting meanings, and most logical, that I've ever found. Rue tastes pretty nasty, it gives my brother spots, and I disdain it.

Plant Details - This perennial plant can grow up to 1.5 meters in height, most of it being in the branches. The dark leaves are large and oval shapes, while the small deep-purple flowers form a bell-shape. The berries ripen from a pale green to black.
Plant Use - Although highly toxic, belladonna is used medicinally as a pain reliever, muscle relaxant, and anti-inflammatory. It is also used by Muggles to relieve motion sickness and to assist in pupil dilation for eye exams. It is also used, obviously, as a poison. The entire plant is toxic, including leaves, flowers, and berries. In potions, we use the plant for sleeping and dreaming potions, as well as some ancient uses related to flying.
Personal Use - Belladonna is one of those plants that my mother doesn't like having on the property, but that my father finds dead useful in his work. Because it is so toxic, the plants we have are charmed. Still, I know from my father and from Professor Lafay that the berries and leaves are very useful for several Healing potions, as well as some sleeping potions we explored this term.

Reflection - Belladonna flowers are pretty, and the name is pretty, but they're also one of the deadliest things out there. I suppose it just goes to show that you can't judge a book by its cover, or a plant by its flowers. Still, deadly as it is, the plant is so useful that it cannot be easily classified as 'bad'.

Plant Details - Wolfberry, or goji berry, is a perennial plant that can grow from 1-3 meters tall. The leaves grow in an alternating pattern up the stalk and tend to be long and spear-shaped. The light-purple flowers are large and bell-shaped, and are produced from the bright red ovoid berries that the plant is known for.
Plant Use - 'Goji berries' are considered to be a Muggle 'superfruit' because of their nutritious nature and their value as an antioxidant. The berries were traditionally eaten dried and added to soups, jams, or teas, although they are now often juiced and added to various drinks or foods. The leaves and young shoots can also be eaten.
Personal Use - The wolfberry doesn't grow really well in our climate, much to the disappointment of my family. These are supposedly super healthy berries that can be added to nearly any food, but they have to be cultivated. My mum buys them dried to add to teas and some of the jams we make, but she would really really like to have one of these in our garden.

Reflection - The wolfberry has a weird name, in my opinion. It's a plant that produces a bright red-orange berry with nothing particularly wolfy about it. I prefer the term goji, if only because it's a lot more fun to say and doesn't make me feel like I'll suddenly sprout fangs if I eat a few in a salad.

Plant Details - Because there are over 100 species of flowers that all fall under the category of 'rose', these plants can vary from woody shrub to trailing vine. The leaves tend to be alternating and the plants are typically adorned with sharp thorns. The leaves tend to be longer and serrated. The flowers of the rose plant are distinctive and come in many colors. The petals are rounded.
Plant Use - The primary use of the rose plant is decorative, whether given in arrangement or alone. The flowers are distinctive as cut flowers and tend to have deep meanings attached to different shades and species of rose. However, the flower can also be used to make scents or potpourris or to extract rose oil, an ingredient prized for medicinal and cooking purposes. Rose hips, the fruit that the flower comes from, are often used as an ingredient in cooking, cosmetics, and medicine.
Personal Use - Although we almost always have cut roses in vases around the house, my real favorite use of the rose plant is in rose hip tea and rose petal jams. The flavor is unique and proves the plants are useful beyond being merely pretty.

Reflection - I thought I ought to look at some of the prettier plans during the month of February, as some of my classmates are giving each other flowers for Valentine's Day. I'm not sure why roses are considered to be such a prized flower to gift. They're lovely and smell nice, but that's true of lots of flowers. They have loads of other uses, which makes them appealing to me, but as far as getting a bouquet of flowers, I'd much rather get something meaningful over something merely pretty.

Plant Details - Known as 'wild chamomile', this annual plant has a branched, smooth stem that can grow from 15-60 cm. The leaves are long and narrow, with clusters of leaflets making up each leaf. The flowers are comprised of narrow white petals and yellow disc florets in the center (ostensibly, these flowers are what would commonly be called a daisy).
Plant Use - The primary use of the plant comes from the dried flowers, often prepared in a tea. Generally, chamomile is used as a mild sleep aid, an aid to the digestive system, and as an anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial. The plant can also be used as a yellow dye.
Personal Use - My father likes to develop teas, which my mother enjoys serving to her friends. Chamomile, which is aromatic and a lovely addition to any tea, is a favorite ingredient of them both. When I was a little kid, my mother would put a chamomile compress on our foreheads when we had trouble sleeping, and she would often use it to settle upset stomachs. This is a plant with a very clear scent memory for me.

Reflection - Chamomile, as I said previously, brings to mind many pleasant feelings from my childhood, especially of being cared for when sick and of being held by my mother. Even if it didn't have soothing qualities when imbibed as a tea, it probably would be extremely relaxing for me.