Aislynn raised her hand took in a deep breath and summarized everything she heard really quickly, “Gillyweed is one of the most well-known plants found in the Mediterranean. Gillyweed looks like a bundle of slimey-grey rats tails, and when it's eaten it gives an individual gills, enabling them to swim underwater. It also gives webbed hands and feet to ease swimming. The duration this change happens for about an hour. One of the examples of its uses was when the legendary Harry Potter used it during the second task at the Lake at the Triwizard Tournament. The effects of gillyweed were first dicovered by Elladora Ketteridge, although Beaumont Marjoribanks is credited with re-discovering it. One of the stories says that Ketteridge once ate gillyweed, causing her to nearly suffocate. She found that when she stuck her head into a bucket of water, she recovered. Since gillyweed is a weed, it's good at being sneaky and feeding off small shrubs and bushes, draining them of nutrients and water mostly. It was right around there I think that you entered, Professor Kazimeriz."

Aislynn had to catch her breath a bit. They covered so much already in the class. She just hope she didn't forget anything that was said. Most importantly, she also hoped that the answer would meet Professor Kazimeriz's satisfaction.

That lady, uhh, teacher didn't know his name. Quickly after she said boy his index finger shot into the air to help her out, "Cy, Miss, it's Cy." He smiled all the same, and a nod too.

Cy almost flinched as the Potions Master entered the room. He sort of, made the first year REALLY jumpy. Looking from Kazimeriz, to Bunbury, to that 'Fyo' Gryffie kid, Cy might as well chip in. "Yeah, that Potter kid used it." Although Cy was AWFUL with History of Magic, he knew little snippets about the history of Harry Potter's career. Oh yes.

Waiiit! He had left something out, oh noes! Fyo raised his hand, again.

"I forgot to mention that Elladora Ketteridge discovered it when she accidentally ate it and then stuck her head into a bucket of water, sir. Plus, Beaumont Marjoribanks classified it about a century later, so she's the one really credited with its discovery."

Merlin's pants! That one Gryffindor, the Potter-lover, wow did she pay attention. Didn't miss a beat, that one. Bunbury blinked in the girl's direction for a few moments...maybe a full minute or two, and then focused back on Kazimeriz.

"Ah, yes, Professor, we discussed the magical properties of the plant, its location, I skimmed over how it grows and we were just getting into its uses." She cleared her throat a little and sat back. Kazi had the story to tell, now, so she was going to try to not interrupt.

Kazimeriz nodded. "Thank you." He looked at Professor Bunbury, then back at the class, folding his hands neatly onto the silver head of his cane. "Your Professor has given you a wonderful summary of the discovery and use of gillyweed. Gillyweed has been found in mediterranean areas as well as in many of the highland areas. It is a parasitic, sentient plant, which will burrow its roots into a host plant and steal its moisture and nutrients. In a case where gillyweed is denied the copious amounts of fresh water that it needs to survive, it will go into a period of dormancy, shriveling up and appearing as a small, prickly and hairlike plant. In this dormant state, we refer to gillyweed as Cuscuta-- also known as dodder or hairweed. Muggles have other nicknames for this plant which are considered somewhat prejudicial to members of our community. Can anyone name some of them?"

Cuscuta was gillyweed?

Fyo blinked, before raising his hand. "It's also called Dodder, professor," he said, nodding to himself. "And, umm, things like devil's guts, devil's hair, devil's ringlet, strangleweed, and witch's hair." Whoa, those were a lot of names. A lot of strange names, to be exact.

Herminny raised her hand and said, "I believe some rather offensive terms for Cuscuta would be all of the following,devil's guts, devil's hair, devil's ringlet, hailweed, hairweed, hellbine, pull-down, strangleweed, and witch's hair.".

Aislynn thought back a little, Cuscuta...cuscuta, that sounds so familiar. She raised her hand. "Isn't it part of the morning glory family, of which the species Cuscuta epithymum is most commonly used in healing?" she asked. "In that genus family Convolvulaceae, they also call it hellweed, devil's gut, beggarweed, strangle tare, scaldweed, dodder of thyme, greater dodder, and lesser dodder. In Chinese, cuscuta seeds are called tu si zi. "

She was nervous with her answer. She wasn't quite sure she had the right one, plants are so vast and are put into so many categories.

Shumeeta raised a hand. "Ain't Cuscuta a parisitic plant, Professa?" she asked curiously. "And like everyone else's been sayin' ...... It's also called goldthread, hailweed, hairweed, hellbine, love vine, pull-down, strangleweed etc."

Cy didn’t know the history behind this plant, but he DID listen to the other students. And, the Aussie just didn’t understand what Kazimeriz meant by ‘offensive’. “With all due respect sah’, I can’t see what’s so offensive. I find it funny!”

The first year crossed his arms in speculation. He liked muggles! All of his very best friends back in Australia were muggles. Either these terms really WERE offensive, or it just took A LOT to actually offend Cy.

Probably the latter.

Well well there were many fine distinctive differences between cuscuta and gillyweed, but how very thoughtful of Kazimeriz to explain things on a level the students could understand. Connecting it to a similar Muggle mundane plant. Bunbury would have never thought of that, it's sad to say.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SenoritaMaxie

Cuscuta was gillyweed?

Fyo blinked, before raising his hand. "It's also called Dodder, professor," he said, nodding to himself. "And, umm, things like devil's guts, devil's hair, devil's ringlet, strangleweed, and witch's hair." Whoa, those were a lot of names. A lot of strange names, to be exact.

"Correct," Anastasia spoke up from behind Kazi. "Remember though, gillyweed is only similar to cuscuta," because obviously gillyweed was magical, "but it is an invasive plant like that. And yes, it can shrivel up and look like witch's hair in extremely dry summer months of the Mediterranean."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Herminny

Herminny raised her hand and said, "I believe some rather offensive terms for Cuscuta would be all of the following,devil's guts, devil's hair, devil's ringlet, hailweed, hairweed, hellbine, pull-down, strangleweed, and witch's hair.".

"Very good, Herminny, thank you," Bunz nodded at the girl.

Quote:

Originally Posted by unicornkeeper07

Aislynn thought back a little, Cuscuta...cuscuta, that sounds so familiar. She raised her hand. "Isn't it part of the morning glory family, of which the species Cuscuta epithymum is most commonly used in healing?" she asked. "In that genus family Convolvulaceae, they also call it hellweed, devil's gut, beggarweed, strangle tare, scaldweed, dodder of thyme, greater dodder, and lesser dodder. In Chinese, cuscuta seeds are called tu si zi. "

She was nervous with her answer. She wasn't quite sure she had the right one, plants are so vast and are put into so many categories.

Anastasia also nodded at the other bright Gryffindor - now they were the only ones participating, oddly enough. "Yes, it is faintly related to morning glories, although more genetic research is needed in my opinion." Obviously, gillyweed could practically have its own category in her opinion. "But those names and such are all correct, dear."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jessica

Shumeeta raised a hand. "Ain't Cuscuta a parisitic plant, Professa?" she asked curiously. "And like everyone else's been sayin' ...... It's also called goldthread, hailweed, hairweed, hellbine, love vine, pull-down, strangleweed etc."

The last Gryffindor brought up the parisitic qualities of cuscuta too, which.... basically was gillyweed. "Yes, precisely. Remember the wriggly motion? And how it looks like rat tails? It's always hungery. Or thirsty, I mean, gillyweed thirsts for something to latch on to and suckkkk the liquid out of."

That sounded kind of disgusting, come to think of it, but it did have so many uses. Oh and they hadn't even discussed gillywaters yet. In time.

"Ah, but back to your Professor Kazimeriz," Anastasia straightened up on her stool and attempted to look smart. "Impress the potions professor.... I mean, tell us in which potions you think gillyweed -- or its mundane cousin cuscuta -- would be useful. And how would you use it: dried, in a ball, chopped, etc? Think on this."

Abby raises her hand. "Muggle herbalist use Dodder as a laxitive. I believe the gillyweed would be useful in a laxitive potion. It would be used dried, and would be chopped fine before adding to the potion. The chopped dodder should also be mixed with honey before being added. The gillyweed would also be useful in a potion for hip problems such as what Professor Kazimeriz is currently experiencing. In that case, I believe the gillyweed should be fresh not dried, added to the potion whole and allowed to simmer in it. The Gillyweed would then be removed before the potion is bottled. The potion should be good to help with inflamation of the sciatica nerve and the joint as well. In the case of joint inflamation Gillyweed is also added in a salve that is rubbed on the inflicted area. In that case, the gillyweed is rough chopped before being added to the potion. The gillyweed also help with absorbing the excess water from the potion helping it to turn into a salve."

Did the Professor EVER stop asking questions? I mean really, it was like every single question she was trying to prove that Cy was an idiot. He didn't know the answer to ANY of these. In a bit of a panic to find the right answer, he shuffled through the pages that were about gillyweed. But the letters couldn't focus to his eyes. And he couldn't read very fast.

Better wing it then.

His small arm shot into the air, "Uhh, I say dry that stuff up and throw it in the cauldron. And with that you will creaaaaaate, Polyjuice Potion. It might turn you completely into a fish. Not jus' a human with fish qualities." He pressed his lips together, and his dark eyes showed confusion this time, not confidence.

"Oh," Fyo said, blinking a little uncertainly. Hadn't Mr. Potions MAN! just said the thing was Cuscuta? Umm.. Oh well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ze RoRo

"Ah, but back to your Professor Kazimeriz," Anastasia straightened up on her stool and attempted to look smart. "Impress the potions professor.... I mean, tell us in which potions you think gillyweed -- or its mundane cousin cuscuta -- would be useful. And how would you use it: dried, in a ball, chopped, etc? Think on this."

Fyo raised his hand again, at Professor Bunbury's question. "How about Doxycide, pofessor?" he suggested. "I mean, that's used to knock out Doxies and, if gillyweed is used minimally and very finely crushed, I'm sure its effect could be restricted to a temporary feeling of suffocation. Could help put them pixies to temporary sleep, you know."

Herminny raised her hand once more to answer saying, "I've heard of cuscutta being used to make love potions from muggle books I've read, is that also true of the wizarding world as well?".

Cuscuta. Fyo's mind was whirring so fast, thinking up ways that dry, little thing could be used in potion, he was pretty sure everybody within ten miles of him could hear it go churn, churn, churn.

A little uncertainly, the third year raised his hand again. "Professor, do you think Cuscuta might be used to make Wartcap powder?" he asked curiously. "It causes the skin of anyone touching it to form a thick hard crust, so it definitely has ingredients which can bring about hardness. Chopped, hardened Cuscuta would be perfect, being all leafless and.. err, hard."

Well, sort of.

"Dodder, or cuscuta,is a parasite and it decreases the ability of plants to resist virus diseases, and dodder can also spread plant diseases from one host to another if it is attached to more than one plant. Moreover, in tropical areas it grows perennially, wheras in temperate areas it is annual.Cuscutta has very low levels of chlorophyll, so it cant photosyntesise at all." Mia stopped for breath, and then continued,"Professor, is the gillyweed a member of the genus cuscutta, or the family Convolvulaceae? Or is the gillyweed the same as the cuscutta? How far do the shared characteristics of the cuscutta and the gillyweed go?
Are they in the same kingdom, same order or same family? Also, how far do the properties of cuscutta resemble that of gillyweed?"

The she-devil and the he-devil teaching a class together-- oh boy! This most certainly would qualify as a perfect example of something 'electrifying'-- and cue Grease soundtrack 'You're the one that I want (you are the one I want), ooh ooh ooh, honey'.

It appeared that Bunbunz was now, like Nurse overonehundred Avalon, sick of Lawson and was going off to try and win Kazimeriz probably just to spite the poor Healer. Ole' Kazimeriz was like a modern-day Hugh Hefner!

Wait.

Did she just say she wanted to impress the potions professor? Yes! She totally did -- she obviously didn't mean the students. She was totally referring to herself.

Who cares about plants that help you breathe underwater (despite it potentially being useful as half the school was flooded!) when you could be picturing Kazi and BunBunz babies! He set out drawing. Tis' was gonna be goooood.

Clifford was useless in Herbology.. and he was ueless in Potions too judging by that last lesson.. so why was he bothering to put up his hand know? Meh. "Could you chop it up.. and make.. make.." Make what? HUH? "tea with it? Yeah! Y'know like people use tealeaves? Well what about gillyweed tea?" That was hardly a potion though, was it? BLEH.

Looking at either side of him, he made sure the coast was clear before whispering, "Psst. Clifford." He slid the parchment with the schmexiest babeh ever over to the Head Boy. "Pass it on."

Deciding he should look as if he was doing something he raised his hand, "I suppppposee if you wanted to make an invincibility potion, breathing underwater would be very useful. Oh, I would probably rub it around your neck first then just throw it in to the pot."

Copernicus raised his hand. "Professors, I suppose that if you dried the gillyweed prior to adding it to a potion, it would add as a desiccating agent. You don't know if it would also act as a thickening agent in the potion, but it probably would help to create potions that required a drying action. Is a side effect of adding gillyweed to any potion extreme thirst, or is that counteracted by the magical properties of other ingredients?"

Professor Bunbury decided to allow Kazimeriz to acknowledge the students' examples of where gillyweed could or could not be used in potions. That was what he was there for, after all, not just as an ornamental decoration on her pink chair. No, Varius Tipps, he was NOT that good-looking. Not. Nevah. Not happening.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrs. Weasley

Abby raises her hand. "Muggle herbalist use Dodder as a laxitive. I believe the gillyweed would be useful in a laxitive potion. It would be used dried, and would be chopped fine before adding to the potion. The chopped dodder should also be mixed with honey before being added. The gillyweed would also be useful in a potion for hip problems such as what Professor Kazimeriz is currently experiencing. In that case, I believe the gillyweed should be fresh not dried, added to the potion whole and allowed to simmer in it. The Gillyweed would then be removed before the potion is bottled. The potion should be good to help with inflamation of the sciatica nerve and the joint as well. In the case of joint inflamation Gillyweed is also added in a salve that is rubbed on the inflicted area. In that case, the gillyweed is rough chopped before being added to the potion. The gillyweed also help with absorbing the excess water from the potion helping it to turn into a salve."

One of Abby's examples was relevant, Bunbury did know that at least. "Gillyweed can be helpful in absorbing excess water, excellent Abby," the redhead spoke up with a nod.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tex

Did the Professor EVER stop asking questions? I mean really, it was like every single question she was trying to prove that Cy was an idiot. He didn't know the answer to ANY of these. In a bit of a panic to find the right answer, he shuffled through the pages that were about gillyweed. But the letters couldn't focus to his eyes. And he couldn't read very fast.

Better wing it then.

His small arm shot into the air, "Uhh, I say dry that stuff up and throw it in the cauldron. And with that you will creaaaaaate, Polyjuice Potion. It might turn you completely into a fish. Not jus' a human with fish qualities." He pressed his lips together, and his dark eyes showed confusion this time, not confidence.

And was it just her or did this little Hufflepuff look utterly confused? Good.

"No, Cy," she'd gotten his name now, "I don't recall gillyweed being an ingredient in Polyjuice, but uh," Bunbury glanced toward Kazi, "perhaps there's a variety of the potion I'm not aware of?" Yeah right.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Princesspotter1234

"Dodder, or cuscuta,is a parasite and it decreases the ability of plants to resist virus diseases, and dodder can also spread plant diseases from one host to another if it is attached to more than one plant. Moreover, in tropical areas it grows perennially, wheras in temperate areas it is annual.Cuscutta has very low levels of chlorophyll, so it cant photosyntesise at all." Mia stopped for breath, and then continued,"Professor, is the gillyweed a member of the genus cuscutta, or the family Convolvulaceae? Or is the gillyweed the same as the cuscutta? How far do the shared characteristics of the cuscutta and the gillyweed go?
Are they in the same kingdom, same order or same family? Also, how far do the properties of cuscutta resemble that of gillyweed?"

Ah, well, somebody was bound to get confused. Thank you, Kazimeriz. Bunbury sighed a little and explained herself better.

"Gillyweed, I suppose would be in the same genus but a different species. Gillyweed is, I guess, called Cuscuta oxygenium," she clarified. "As far as shared characteristics, well both are obviously parasitic, they have the winding stem, similar seeding practices and such - but the big difference is that gillyweed, as a transfigurational herb, thrives off the water and any moisture it can absorb from the host plant or bush. It's like....a more sentient, developed and magical species of cuscuta."

She crossed her arms and realized that probably wasn't much more helpful. "Basically, think of it like this: There's gillyweed and then there's cuscuta. Gillyweed has magical properties which means it cannot be exactly the same, except in cases where it fails to receive the proper nutrients from a host plant. When it becomes too dry, the magical properties basically dry up and the dormant plant is then treated and used the same as cuscuta. Gillyweed also only grows in the Mediterranean, remember, whereas cuscuta has 100 to 170 different species found all over the world. Does that make more sense?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Waterloo

Clifford was useless in Herbology.. and he was ueless in Potions too judging by that last lesson.. so why was he bothering to put up his hand know? Meh. "Could you chop it up.. and make.. make.." Make what? HUH? "tea with it? Yeah! Y'know like people use tealeaves? Well what about gillyweed tea?" That was hardly a potion though, was it? BLEH.

Oh dear, Clifford was going to embarrass himself, not only as a wizard but also as a citizen of the British Empire who clearly had no idea how to make tea. Bunbury's eyes flickered shut for a moment, like she was wincing at the boy's explanation, and then she simply shook her head at him. He.... probably had a cousin who was a troll. Yep. And Varius Tipps was related to an annoying Pixie, rambling about invincibility potions....fantastic....

What, what, what?

Fyo blinked, before raising a hand.

"So dried gillyweed can be used as cuscuta, but they're not the same thing - right, professor?" he asked. Because, you know, that was a MUCH easier statement. - Could really simplify things, if it turned out to be correct.

It was clear by Professor Bunbury's reaction that his idea wasn't ... good. Not good was probably an understatement though. Heck, the Professor almost looked like she was embarrassed for him. Bleh. Gillyweed tea was a good idea.. not that he'd try it --

Oooh, hello?

Clifford snorted LOUDLY when Varius Tipps slid a drawing his way. Oh gaaawd. Quickly disguising his snort for a fake cough, the Head Boy bowed his head and wordlessly passed the VERY ATTRACTIVE drawing along to Copernicus Kettleburn.

"So...", Mia said, hoping she wasnt being too stupid,"gillyweed is just the magical version of cuscuta?"