Stinging Nettle--------------------------Wild Garlic------------------Dandelions
Urtica dioica------------------------------Allium ursinum----------------Taraxacum officinale

Corn Mint----------------------------Borage-------------------Ground Elder
Mentha arvensis----------------Borago officinalis----------Aegopodium podagraria

The first herb is called Stinging Nettle, which gives you some idea of one of its properties. Also called "Devil's Leaf" in some places, it was brought to Britain by the Romans. It has large, dark-green, frond-like leaves and long purplish-white flowers, and it's covered with hollow, stinging hairs. Therefore, you'll need to be careful to wear your dragon-hide gloves if you find any to harvest. However, it loses its sting when it's cooked and it can be eaten in soup and herbal teas. Cloth can also be made from its fibers, similar to linen, and it's used to make a green dye. Medically, it's used as an astringent and a stimulating tonic. Magically, it's used for protection, healing, and love spells, and for couteracting dark magic. It grows from March to May, so you should be able to find it growing around.

Wild Garlic, the second herb, grows from April to June. It's also called 'Ramsons' or 'Cow-leeks,' because cows love it (though if they eat too much, their milk tastes garlicky). You'll find it carpeting the woodlands or in the shade of the hedgerows. It has broad, bright-green leaves with little clusters of white, star-like flowers, and it has a pungent aroma. It tastes like a milder form of regular garlic, and can be used the same kind of way in cooking. You can also roll up leaves and leave in a flask of oil for a few weeks to make a marinade or a potion. Medicinally, it's used for cardiovascular, respiratory, and digestive ailments, and to sterilize wounds and prevent infection. Wizards and witches use it for protection, healing, love magic, and protection against theft and dark magic.

You probably all recognize the third herb, Dandelion, a perennial that grows year round, and all its parts are edible and it's high in nutrients.. Its flowers are actually many small flowers, ranging from yellow to orange, growing on a single composite flowerhead that rises on a tall stalk above the leaves. Its pollen can cause allergies, but it's said your wish will come true if you blow a seed-head and all the seeds come off. It can be eaten raw or cooked, its roots are used in drinks, its leaves can make tea, its flowers can be made into wine or into a dye. It can be used for a diuretic, a tonic, and a cure for liver or digestive ailments. Magically, it's used in divination and to enhance psychic powers.

The next herb, Corn Mint, is a herbaceous perennial that grows from April to Sept. in moist places and along streams. It has square-ish stems that grow from 4 in. up to 2 ft. tall, creeping roots, and little clusters of pale purple or white flowers growing around the stem.It looks like peppermint but its taste is both sharper and less 'minty'. It can be used in cooking like mint, especially in savory dishes, or eaten raw in salads or sandwiches. It can be used in tea for digestions, cough medicines, menthol creams, or mouthwashes. In magic, it's used for healing, spells for money or love, travel, and protection.

The fifth herb is called Borage, also known as 'Starflower.' It's an annual, self-seeding plant native to the Mediterranean. It has tall stalks with drooping, fuzzy leaves and delicate blue flowers with triangular, pointed petals, and it's bristly and hairy all over (but don't worry, it doesn't sting like Nettle!) It has a light cucumber taste and has been used in salads, summer drinks, and garnishes. However, in recent times, it's been found to pose a risk of liver ailments or cancer, so it's not used in the kitchen so much. Bees that use its nectar make a light, delicate honey. Medically, it makes an excellent anti-inflammatory poultice, a wash for mouth sores, and a relief from the itch and ringworm. Magically, it enhances courage and psycic powers. It grows from May to September, so it's a little early for it, but you may find some early bloomers.

The last herb is Ground Elder, also known as 'Bishop's Weed' or 'Goat Weed.' It's a spinach-like member of the carrot family which was also brought to Britain by the ROmans. It has tall stalks with toothed leaves shaped like a goat's foot and umbrella-like breanches of tiny white flowers. It's best harvested wild, as it tends to take over a garden. Its leaves have a nutty flavor and it's good in salads or cooked in butter. It's used in poultices for gout and arthritis and taken internally as a diuretic or sedative. Magically, it's used for protection, healing, and spells for prosperity and sleep. It's probably to early to find any at Hogwarts this time of year, though it will be around later in the summer.