Sho looked around at the students talking about the hybrids. He gazed around at the plants and rubbed his chin.

"Professor, not to interrupt or anything, but what if a hybrid isn't sterile? What if cross-pollination occurs with a hybrid and another plant? Can anything happen?"

Erikson nodded, raising a brow at the student. "You know, I brought up Mendel last term and no one could tell me about the pink flowers. I'm glad to see at least someone else knows about it. One point, just for that."

He chuckled lightly, nodding. "Excellent, Jasmine. And that's certainly something to consider today. Though we can't see the plants' chromosomes, we can consider other factors which will tell us if a hybrid is likely to take or not. Very good. Three points to Gryffindor."

"It is possible to chart previous mutations, and therefore figure how to prevent or enhance one. However, remember that magic will inherently work with nature. Your potions and transfiguration classes can tell you a lot about that. We can adjust the odds with different fertilizers, potions, and spells, but in most cases you're just looking at nature to do its work. Good question, however."

"Sometimes a hybrid does not turn out as planned, but it does not mean its truly weaker. It just means it might take a little more to discover the strength of the plant. Though, some hybrids to take a little more care than others. But then again, so does a strong plant being moved from a rainforest to a drier climate. Again, it's difference, not weakness."

Erikson raised a brow. "Very true. Which is something that plant breeders tend to know well. It's amazing how many will deal only one once species of plant, and often flowers. Look up the number of different roses or lilies sometime. Two points."

He shrugged. "If a plant isn't sterile, then you can re-breed it. There many hybrids like that. However, sometimes results can be more unexpected than when originally creating the hybrid. Defects which hadn't been in the line for generations can make a sudden reappearance."

He looked over the class, rather satisfied. "Well done, students. Now, you will be choosing sets of plants to hybridize. One of the keys is that you want compatible plants. Peppermint, however, is actually a harder creation than we can make in class. Most peppermint was found in the wild, and we only know it is a hybrid through close examination and resynthesis. That is something that will be discussed some other time, however. The plants you will be choosing from are all flowering plants.

"If you do choose to breed the fanged geranium, please do be careful and not get bitten. And try to keep the honking daffodils calm. I don't want too much noise, if possible. I have a wide selection of narcissus, geraniums, irises, and lilies for you to choose from, both mundane and magical. You will be working with cross-pollination. I do have other plants available upon request. Just be sure to look up the family and order of the plant first. Those in the same family, and sometimes order, often have the best chances of producing results.

"If you still insist on working with the peppermints, feel free to come see me and I'll work with you."

With a smug look on his face, Ryan began to think about what he wanted to do during that lesson. Which plants should he try to hybridize?

Deciding that it would probably be easier to work with non-magical plants first, Ryan began to peruse the non-magical plants. "Hmm..." he thought out loud, "If these are all flowering plants, that means they belong to the Phylum Anthophyta, meaning they are all angiosperms, which, right off the bat, should greatly increase the chances of having a compatable pair."With that...thought, Ryan decided that he next needed to distinguish between the monocots and the dicots. "Let's see..." he again said to no one in particular. "What's the rule again? Ah yes, monocot flowers have petal counts of multiples of three per flower head, while dicots have petal counts of 4 or 5 per flower head."

He then began classifying the plants, with the aid of his Herbology book. "The narcissus, family Sarraceniaceae, have 6 petals, so they must be monocots. Geraniums, family Geraniaceae, have 5 petals...so geraniums and narcissus won't be as compatable. Irises, family Iridaceae, order Liliales, also have 6 petals, so they are monocots." And coming to the last set of flowers, Ryan muttered, "Lillies, family Liliaceae, order Liliales, also have 6 petals - monocot. Okay, so then the Geraniums are almost certainly out of the question for cross-pollinizing. Hmm...it seems as though Irises and Lilies are the best choice."

Ryan scooped up a pot of each, and took them back to his table. When he reached his table, he whipped an empty pot and some leftover soil from the last lesson."

He then looked up and asked, "Professor? What kind of fertalizer would work best? Considering these are Muggle plants, would Dragon Manure not work?"

Sho looked over at Prof. Erikson as he answered his questions. He rubbed his chin, trying to think of some plants to cross breed.

Plants aren't my strong suit..., he thought to himself.

He opened up his text book and scratched his head. He flipped through some of the pages and noticed that roses and tulips. Though so could roses and carnations.

"Rose and carnation it is..."

Jasmine smiled happily when the professor approved her answer and she sat up a little straighter. As she listened to what he was saying, her mind started flipping through different flowering plants that she knew for a possible combination. She decided to try for a hybrid that would represent something happy and pleasant, and she thought she might know just the ones. She was tired of all the negativity in her life and thought it would make for a nice change. She just needed to make sure they would be compatible. Besides she missed Fred and needed a new plant of her own.Thinking of Fred made her remember that the professor had asked about him earlier.

Raising her hand, Jasmine asked,"Professor Erikson, I'm not sure if they are available flowers, but, may I cross-pollinate a Frangipani, plumeria rubra acutifolia and a Periwinkle,catharanthus roseus? They are both from the apocynaceae ( oleander) family."

Then her face became slightly downcast as she looked at his peppermint plant and she went on to say softly,"And to reply to your earlier question sir, Fred..was at my house over the summer." Jasmine knew that Professor Erikson would know what that meant as he was aware of what happened over the summer.

For some reason which he couldn't explain, Excelsior was really intrigued with the thought of pollinating the lilies. He wanted to produce a striped variety by mixing a white lily with a tiger lily.

"Keep in mind that just because a plant in mundane does not mean that magical items will have no effect. However, it is not the same in reverse."

He nodded quietly and moved focus back to the plants. "You can try to cross-pollinate them. It might yield some interesting results. Just understand you may have a fertile plant by the end of it."

Hermy puzzled over what plants to choose. Since taling with Professor Erikson earlier in the term, she had been studying and reading constantly, so to put some theory into practice would be excellent. First though, she needed to check something.

Reching for her bag, Hermy pulled out a large, heavily bound book with faded pages. This book was obviously old, with a slightly musty smell and torn protective jacket. Inside, a page was marked with a torn piece of parchment. It had a large image, with small scralling text along one side which was unreadable. Its showed an iris, a hybrid of one magical and one mundane parent, and despite its age, the petals in the picture glistened and shimmered. She took the page to the Professor's desk.

"Do you have the magical iris needed to form this hybrid, or one similar?" Hermy asked the professor. "I'm guessing you have the mundane type, Iris ensata - the Sword Leaf Iris -but I couldn't quite identify what the other one was. I guess it could be extinct by now, but I would love to make a hybrid that the blues and purples shimmered like that one. Any suggestions?"

Hermy crossed her fingers. She really wanted to know how that affect was achieved, and would try her hardest to replicate it. If she managed it, she would have the plant that in many ways represented her - the colours, delicacy, uniqueness and artisticness all blended together really appealed to her firstly to paint, but now to create.

Rapunzel didn't even know where to begin. She noticed that Ryan seemed to be getting down to business, but she had no idea where to even start. She knew that she wanted to do something with the honking daffodils, but what?

"Ryan," she whispered. "What are you doing?!"

Sho looked down at his book and then around the room. He rubbed his chin and rose his hand.

"Professor? I know, from my mother doing this at home, that roses and carnations can be used to create a hybrid. Though... I can't remember which she used. Are there any types that you'd prefer? I want to go for a deep color..."

As Ryan was meandering back to his table, he heard a voice calling him. "Oh! Hi Rapunzel! I didn't even see you there! I'm just working on my hybridization. I'm going to see what I get when I cross some Lilies and Irises. Wanna work together?"

Ryan began disassembling a flower from each plant. "Now let's see here....I should try cross-pollinization both ways. So I need the stomata (or is it stamen?) of each plant, and some pollen from the anthers." While talking to himself, Ryan found the stomata (or stamen) of the Lily, after plucking a few anthers from the flower, as well. "Ah! Here we go!" After a short while of working on the Irises, Ryan managed to procure the stomata (or stamen) and a few anthers. "Mmkay...I should get a paint brush..."

Ryan had forgotten to bring a paint brush that day, but instead transfigured his pen into a brush. "Ah yes. That's much better," he said.

He began to brush some pollen off of his Lily anther, and transferred it onto the stomata (or stamen) of the Iris. He then spritzed the stomata (or stamen) with a little bit of water, and placed it in a petri dish with a wet towel at the bottom. "Now I just need to wait for this to germinate...and then I can transfer it into a pot with soil."

He did the same for the Iris pollen and Lily stomata (or stamen), and waited a while for them to germinate under a bright light.

Ariana sat there utterly confused about erverything that had been said. She put her head on her desk and groaned. Give me an 'F' now I'll never figure this out she thought to herself as she groaned again, looking up at everyone as they went to work. They knew what they were doing, so why was it so hard for her?

Sighning loudly she got up and walked over to professor Erikson, her face red, "Um professor, I'm not understanding anything about Hybrids. Can I just try to create a hybrid out of the two easiest plants avliable?" she asked, feeling utterly humiliated beyond belief. She knew nothing about plants, creatures were her thing. "There's a good chance of me failing this class, " she whispered to him, not wanting people to know she was this bad, "So if there's any way I can scrap a pass I'd be more than willing to do it." she added looking up at him hopefully.

Ryan looked up from his work and saw a fellow Ravenclaw suffering. Her face seemed all screwed up in frustration. He genuinely wanted to help, so he looked at her, and asked, "Would you like some help? I can sort of guide you through this, although, it would be much better if the Professor helped you, but I'm willing to help if you want it,"

He smiled at the girl and went back to watching his seeds. If he could only speed up time...

Rapunzel was impressed with Ryan's work. "Sure, let's work together. What can I....er, mix with these honking daffodils?" she asked, puzzled. She really had no clue what to do, although Ryan's process looked like it was working.

Ryan flipped through a few pages of his Herbology book. "Aha! Found 'em! Daffodils are of the scientific name Narcissus pseudonarcissus, so, if you want, you can cross them with some of the Narcissus plants. That would make for a beautiful plant! Who knows what it would do, though?" Ryan chuckled a bit before continuing. "Now, I already said that Narcissus are angiosperms, meaning their seeds are encased in a protective coating. Also, they are monocots, as they have 6 petals on the flower. These particular daffodils look as though they also have 6 petals, also making them monocots. Looks like we have a match!" Ryan exclaimed.

Then he asked, "So, do you understand how I'm determining their compatability?"

OOC - brb. my neighbor needs help on her Ratatoullie game. XD
OOC - back!

Ari jumped, turning and smiled, "No, I think I'll get the professor to help me." she said, but grinned slighlty. "Thanks though. I'll probably need yor help later though so stick around." she added chuckling pathetically.

Rapunzel half nodded and half shook her head no. "So.....are you just like cross-referencing their families or genus or something? To see what would make a fertile hybrid? I think I get it......right?" She was still confused but at least she was making progress!

Ryan's face was overcome by a look of excitement. "That's exactly it!" he half-shouted. "You're picking this up so quickly! You know, you're probably better at Herbology than you think." Ryan was extatic that he could help a fellow student. They may be vying for house points, but they were at school to learn, after all.

Ryan then turned to the other Ravenclaw girl and said, "Okay! That's probably smarter, but just let me know if you need any help. I'll just be right over here."

Rapunzel positively beamed at Ryan's compliment. She might be a slow learner when it came to Herbology but he was an excellent teacher. "Okay, so what do we do next......Professor?" she asked with a wink.

Ryan blushed a bit at being called Professor, and merely chuckled. Well, each flower usually has both male and female parts - the ovary, hidden in the pistil, and the sperm, encased in the pollen. Ah yes, the pistil, not the stamen or the stomata. My bad...anyway. So, yes! We must take pollen from the anther of the flower and transfer that onto the little...landing patch of the pistil so the sperm can make its way down into the ovary. Once we do that, we soak the seed a bit, and wait for it to germinate." Ryan beamed at Rapunzel, utterly impressed with his own abilities and how he was able to pass them on.

Cassandra watched as the professor spoke... she wasn't really listening. She was more intent of the sound of his voice than anything he was saying. She turned to the gryffindor he was so fond of and glared at her.

Now Rapunzel was absolutely, positively, and utterly confused. Male and female parts of flowers? What what?!? She just shook her head, her eyes wide, and nodded. "Yeah. So uh, take a little of this, add it to that....soak the...the...what?" She squinted, hoping she was germinating the plants correctly.

Ryan chuckled a bit and said, "Yah. I know. It's weird. The plants have both genders, but if you think about it, that's a very good design of nature. The plants can self-pollinate, rendering for increased reproduction, and then the traits will be passed on more. Now, as for these plants, try to keep up. We're taking the sperm from the male part of each plant, and adding it to the female part of the opposite plant. When that's done, we wet the seed to provide it with nourishment." He watched Rapunzel work on her plants, and encouraginly added, "there! That's how to do it! You're doing wonderfully!"

He looked the illustration over carefully, considering it. "Looks very close to the mundane species of Dynamite German Iris. So I would assume you're trying to find the Ravenheart Iris. It's not extinct, but very rare. I'm sure I couldn't get it for this class even if you asked me at the beginning of term. I do have something close that might get you similar results, only much lighter."

He walked out to one of his other greenhouses and came back in with a glittering white plant. "The Winter Love Lily. Mainly used to set a light atmosphere at dances or special events, though it may give an interesting result when bred with the Sword Leaf. And I believe one of those is somewhere in this room."


He chuckled. "You may use anything, really. I'm not going to be choosy. However, if you wish to work with some magical plants, I do have some glass and silver roses which are still blooming. I have a wide variety of carnations in greenhouse three if you'd like to have a look."

"Now now, plants are rather simple and you should be able to figure things out. You can always hybrid two of the same type of plant. Two different types of lilies, or two different types of roses. All the roses I have in this room are fertile, and you don't even need to know the name. Just make sure you keep them together afterward so I can label them properly."

"Cassandra..." He made his way over to her and leaned on the table. "I'd suggest you get started. This isn't a terribly long class and you want your plants set before you leave."

ooc: I'll leave this open until late tomorrow. I'll have a one-day lab during finals for you all to plant the seeds.

Bess chose a dark mauve iris and a light pink lily to hybridize.
She removed the anther of the Lily using a tiny toy fork and transferred is to the stigma of the Iris.

Next, Bess wet the plant and waited for the germination.
She wondered what manure she would use....