"It originated in China; and it's a member of the Amaryllis family, and is actually a cultivated variety. 'Triploid' it says somewhere: I'm not too clear on the details, but I know that plants have simply no sense of social restraint when it comes to pollination, throwing their chromosomes around with total abandon. The result is that this plant is sterile, only spreading as the bulbs divide. Since the bulbs are well known to be distinctly poisonous and can lead to death, they were planted around the edges of paddies and house walls to keep down pests such as mice. But they grow completely wild now, particularly also on river banks." Cassandra added proudly.

"It's also known as the hurricane lily and magic lily, actually. And yes, it's a rather spiritual flower for the Japanese. A point to each of you." He walked over to another rose bush, indicating it carefully. The blossoms were a dark red, almost black, with red snaking up the underside of the petals. "Knowing what you do, let's take an easy one. For this rose, I've combined the snowfire rose with the taboo rose. Any ideas on how it will be named?"

Kennedy really didn't know what the answer to Professor E's question was but she thought of a name she'd like for it and called it, "Taboofire, sir! Oh wait, you said how, huh? Well, maybe from both its parent species - combining the name using the portmanteau method. Or maybe for its distinctive color pattern."

Daphne raised her eyebrows. She could think of dozens of names for it, but she was sure she must had missed something the Professor had said about hybrid naming. I could call it a SnowBoo Rose Daphne thought to herself, then giggled at the silliness of the name.

Kerry raised her hand, "I would think the rose would be named by it's appearance, perhaps the "fire taboo rose" as the fire part I would think comes first because the rose is a dark red," Kerry said unsure of if it really did have a name already or not.

Erikson couldn't help laughing. "Books, students. See if you can find their latin names first! We're naming a hybrid, remember."

Lauren's response to Professor Erikson's latest question was not an enthusiastic raised hand as it had been before. Her left hand lay horizontal, rapping lightly on her textbook open to her side. Her right hand was curled around her quill, which was now creeping up toward her chin. She swiped the feather from side to side, hitting the bottom of her jaw lightly with each movement, her face screwed up in thought. She had heard of each rose, had a vague idea of what each looked like. And yet she had no CLUE what a hybrid of both would be called. Her quill poised, now being held upright just an inch from her parchment, she waited for a classmate to answer so that she could copy the information down.

{OOC: Boo, I have to go! I was really enjoying this, too - this is the first Herbology lesson that I ever remember really participating in. Oh well, I'll definitely be here for the next one! See you all!}

Daphne feebly thumbed through the book. After a bit she gave up and began to doodle flowers on the corners of her parchment. Her colour changing ink made doodling extremely entertaining.

"I think it's name should be Heart of Erikson..." she said aloud. Her eyes grew wide. "Both roses are already hybrids." She could not remember their latin names and it was driving her batty...

Kerry shook her head, "latin? now how am I supposed to know that?" she thought to herself flipping through her book. She raised her hand again, "ok so I said I would call it the fire taboo rose, but I can only find a translation for fire," she laughed, "so I would call it the incendia taboo rose"

"Alright, let's go back to basics, I suppose." He looked around at the students. "Roses are named slightly differently. The basic thing to keep in mind is that they are all of the genus Rosa, and their name will often start there. The parentage of the Snowfire, as an example, will be Rosa 'Detroiter' and Rosa 'Liberty Bell.' It sounds silly, yes, but I think that's simply what happens when a plant is too popular. Everyone creates something, and no one has a care for latin."

Cassandra embarrassed and red looked through her notes "Snowfire Hybrid Tea Rose, bright red, reverse white, bred in 1970, 'Detroiter' x 'Liberty Bell'

Taboo (TANelorak, 'Barkarole', 'Grand Château') Large-flowered/Hybrid Tea. Evers bred in 1988. Description... among the darkest red roses to be found..."

ooc: My computer just had to crash on posting this...

Kerry was more confused then ever but raised her hand again, "Rosa! Duh, I should have known that! So then my suggestion would be the incendia taboo rosa?" she laughed so unsure of this whole latin thing. "is that right or is there a latin word for taboo or is there a name for this hybrid already that I just don't know?" Kerry laughed trying to straighten it all out in her head.

"The simple name for it will be R. x chinensis. The reason why is because all modern hybrids will descend from this rose. It's just a matter of where to go from there. Who can tell me which method of naming would be best for the rose? To follow the more modern traditions of the muggle world, to give it an appropriate scientific name, or to name it in the old traditions?"

"The old traditions are always best..." Cassandra said shyly from her desk... now she wished she wasn't so close to him.

Kennedy raised her hand and replied, "I kinda think the scientific names might be most appropriate, this way the description is specific to that flower and cannot be confused with another." Kennedy thought that was probably not the answer he wanted, but it was how she thought about the issue.

Tara listened as the teacher spoke, and wrote down everything she was saying. Hopping that maybe she would understand it some day.

He nodded. "Very good. So, what would be appropriate descriptors for the rose? Don't think of what created the hybrid, but more how it seems for yourself. For information, the rose was created here at Hogwarts."

Cassandra rolled her eyes at Kennedy... She really would have liked to say something smart and well thought out, but nothing came to mind. "The heart of Hogwarts?" She asked the professor.

Kennedy offered, "Well, what about including the snake-like effect that the red color has on the underside of the leaves? Something like the 'Blood Serpent Rose.' It sounds kinda gruesome now that I say it like that..." Kennedy trailed off.

Cassandra rose her brow... Blood Serpent... not bad... and to have come from a Ravenclaw... she watched the professor to gage his reaction.

ooc: going home from work... should be back in a half hour from time edited.

He chuckled. "Very creative." Blood Serpent. How... interesting. "Well done. The registered name for it, actually, is Fire in the Dark. Rosa Snowfire x Taboo, r. x chinensis. Not bad, all of you." He looked over the rest of them. "Now, Kennedy was in the greenhouses earlier and came up with some interesting ideas for hybrids." He looked to her with a smile. "Would you like to share, Kennedy?"

Kennedy nodded nervously and replied, "Um, sure. Well, so I searched through the six greenhouses and the garden and I came up with a couple combinations, although I'm not sure how well they'd actually work. But here they are: Sneezewort and Alihotsy, a Flutterby bush and Abyssinian Shrivelfig, Screechsnap and Mallowsweet, or honking daffodils and puffapods. What do you think?"

He smirked. "Well now, that's not really going to be for me to think about." He looked out to the rest of the students. "The rest of the class period I want you to pair up and talk about what could happen with the hybrids mentioned. What might it look like? What could it do? And what would you call it? Oh, each pair please only pick one or two hybrids, please. If you wish, discuss how you would try to combine them. I'll be walking around seeing how you're doing, so please take notes on everything you discuss for me to see."

ooc: I'll leave the thread open for about a day for anyone who wants to get some participation points.

Pair up? Cassandra thought... Why? but that's what the professor wanted and she was intending to make as many points as she could. She looked over at Brooke... well she was the obvious choice. Brooke was the closest thing she had to a best friend. But she was so very bad at Herbology... She turned and looked at Kennedy... She excelled at Herbology... but Cassandra hated even seeing her in the great hall let alone sitting beside her to discuss plants.

Cassandra moved closer to Kennedy. "Would you like to be paired with me?" She asked the girl. She figured she'd get the points first, by talking to Kennedy and then she'd help Brooke.