He warded the door against sound with a smirk and looked around. "No questions? Alright, then. Oh, five points to Slytherin, four to Ravenclaw, and two to Gryffindor. The rest of you are doing rather well. So, can anyone tell me common ways of creating a hybrid? For those of you who were here last term, you might remember that we worked with them."

Last year Rosalie had been in the Hospital wing for that lesson, but she guessed no less.

"Could you create a hybrid using cross polination? Or do only muggles do that?" She asked, grinning. She liked Professor Erickson.

Kennedy raised her hand and replied, "Isn't backcrossing used, sir. An existing plant variety may be used as the recipient parent while many other crop varieties or wild relatives may contribute as donor parents. The plant type in which the character or the trait is being transferred is known as the recipient parent and the other as the donor parent. For this, the two plants are mated or crossed and the progeny is screened for the desired trait. The progeny plants possessing the desired trait are then selected and crossed back to the recipient parent. This process is repeated until the desired plant type having all the characteristics of the recipient in addition to the trait being transferred is finally obtained. This exercise is known as backcrossing and involves both hybridization and selection." She wasn't sure if it was the answer he was looking for, but she figured it couldn't hurt to try.

Cassandra watched the professor as he re-acted to the ravenclaw. She swooned at the commanding tone his voice adopted. He was so strong. Oooo, five point! Yes! She thought to herself thinking of the hourglass dropping emeralds.

"Many plant species easily cross pollinating and producing viable seeds, the distinction between each species is often maintained by geographical isolation or differences in the flowering period." She answered.

Kerry shook her head at the bizarre behavior of the young boy. It was quite distracting and made her easily lose focus.

Trying to remember what the question was the professor had last asked, she thought to herself..."oh that's right... ways to make a hybrid!"

Kerry raised her hand, "save the seeds from the plants they like best, in effect passing along those qualities to future generations. For the best results you might want to try mating two separate species to produce hybrids that will result in a new species fairly quickly"

Qaz raised her hand and answered weakly, 'Maybe grafting.' She didn't want to ask her question again....things were way too tense. She was glad the jerk got kicked out.

Erikson nodded. "Cross pollination is one of the most common methods of hybridization, also known as breeding plants."

"Very detailed answer, Kennedy. Backcrossing is a tedious process, but is the best wait to attempt getting a breedable hybrid, with every desired trait. Some have taken over a century to gain exactly the sort of plant they wanted, because you must wait for your plant to mature."

"That is true, Cassandra. And we also can't forget that just because a plant is the same species, does not mean that they are the same breed. And combining the two is still creating a hybrid." He nodded to the three students. "Two points to Slytherin and Ravenclaw each."

He walked over to one of the more muggle rose bushes, laying a hand gently against a blossom. "Flowing plants are most often created to hybrids. An excellent example is the rose. One particular type actually has hybrid in the name. Anyone know what this is?"

Kennedy replied, "A Hybrid Tea Rose, also called 'Cajun Sunrise'?"

Lauren thought, and raised her hand slowly. "The Hybrid Tea Rose, sir? I seem to remember hearing somewhere that this type of rose is actually the most popular kind of rose out of them all."

Kerry raised her hand, "I would have to agree that the rose would be the hybrid tea, which is a cross between hybrid perpetuals and old fashioned tea roses"

Antwone did have a problem with it but he did not express his feelings to the professor. Intead he raise his hand and spoke as respectively as he could, "Professor, I believe it is hybrid tea rose."

"That's it exactly!" He smiled. "A point to Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor each. And yes, it is the most popular rose out there today."

"Now, to get down to the less interesting stuff. How are plants today normally named?"

"A hybrid tea rose" and with her wand she pulled an image out of her book.

Antwone raised his hand, "Plant are named by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature." He wasn't sure how he knew that either.

Lauren's hand flew into the air once more. "In reference to the tea rose in particular, and other plants as well I suppose, their popular names often come from those of celebrities - royalty and the like - as well as events, places of origin, or times in history. Scientific names nearly always come from Latin, though."

"Hybrids between Erica ciliaris and E. tetralix have been given the hybrid name Erica x watsonii, the multiplication sign denoting hybrid origin. Some hybrids have not been given a hybrid name but are referred to by quoting the parent species linked by a multiplication sign, for instance Drosera pulchella x D. nitidula. This is termed a hybrid formula. Hybrids between different genera are given a new hybrid genus name and the different combinations of species are treated as species in their own right. Thus the hybrid Mahonia aquifolium x Berberis sargentiana has been named x Mahoberberis aquisargentii and M. aquifolium x B. julianae is x Mahoberberis meithkeana. There are also a few special-case hybrids called graft hybrids, where the tissues of two plants are physically rather than genetically mixed. These are indicated by an addition rather than a multiplication sign, so Laburnum + Cytisus becomes + Laburnocytisus."

She thought about it a bit more and said. "Also from the creator?" Cassandra said. "Like if I created one, I'd call it the Trelawney."

Kennedy raised her hand and answered, "Regular plants are named using the binomial system in Latin. Plant names are usually descriptive, from the features of a plant, who first discovered it, or its country of origin."

Kerry raised her hand, "The person who discovered the plant first will be the one to name it. The plant may be named after a person, place, distinguishing feature or anything the discoverer would like unless the name is already in use with another plant in the genus."

Carolyn raised her hand. "Probably after the discoverer. Usually when something in nature is discovered, whether plant, animal, star, or something else, the person who found it is usually the person who names it. In some cases, they don't name it after themselves, but most do because their name will be famous."

Erikson chuckled. "Very good, Cassandra, but I was really talking about in general. Anyway, two points to each of you."

"All of those answers are correct. Though also don't forget that there is often a scientific name, as well as a common name. Who can tell me the latin name and common names for the higanbana? Where would they get the ideas for those names?"

Kennedy raised her hand and replied, "Higanbana is also known as the Red Spider Lily, and its latin name is Lycoris radiata. The idea for the name comes from its color and its fringe resembling spider legs."

Kerry raised her hand, "Higanbana is also known as the Lycoris radiata" Kerry said having trouble pronouncing it "Or more commonly known Spider Lilies. My guess is that they named it because it was a red lily that grew wildly resembling that of the long legs of a spider, if that makes any sense."

Daphne skimmed through her book. She raised her hand. "That's the Red Spider Lily, right? Lycoris radiata in latin? Well, the flower sorta looks like spider legs, doesn't it?" Daphne was never very sure of her answers, so they often sounded like questions.

"Lycoris radiata - Red Spider Lily" She answered, beaming at the Professor. "The common Japanese name of this flower (higan + hana=flower) refers to higan, a Buddhist term for the period of seven days around the Spring or Autumn equinox, and Higanbanas only appears in the Autumn. It's probably a more familiar term to Japanese than 'equinox' is to English speakers, because of the tradition of visiting ancestors' graves at each higan."

Lauren's hand in the air, she answered, "The higanbana's popular name is the red spider lily. It is named as such because of the way it looks - its colour is red, and its flowers look quite like spider legs. Its latin name is Lycoris radiata, which is a phrase that ... well, I'm not quite sure what it all means together. 'Radiata' means radiant or beaming, however, and I suppose that too was chosen for the spread and colour of its flower."