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"Tell me, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
— Severus Snape to Harry Potter[src]

Asphodel[3] (also known as Royal Staff)[1] is a member of the lily family and has long and slender leaves. It is found worldwide, and was known to grow in the Hogwarts grounds.[5] The plant was not native to Great Britain or Ireland, and required special, well-drained soil to grow.[2] Muggles used to believe the plant grew in the underworld.[2] Sixteen known types of the plant existed, each with their own needs.[2]

History[]

"Welcome! Today we will cover one of Professor Snape's favourite potion ingredients: asphodel. When combined with wormwood, powdered root of asphodel produces the Draught of the Living Death. Muggles once believed asphodel grew in the underworld, but the greenhouses will do! Let's begin!"
— Professor Sprout to her Herbology students[src]
Powdered Asphodel

A bottle of powdered root of asphodel

During the 1990–1991 school year, seventh-year students were taught about how to cultivate asphodel in Herbology by Professor Pomona Sprout.[2]

On 2 September 1991, Professor Severus Snape mentioned asphodel in his first-ever question directed to Harry Potter in Potions class, asking what potion would be produced if Powdered Root of Asphodel was added to an Infusion of Wormwood, the answer being the Draught of Living Death.[3]

Uses[]

Asphodel

An illustration of asphodel in Magical Drafts and Potions

"Its powdered root is a potion ingredient. From the lily family, this plant has long, slender leaves. Its name comes from the Greek asphodelos."
Arsenius Jigger, Magical Drafts and Potions[src]

Asphodel had both magical and mundane uses.[1] Powdered root of Asphodel was used in the creation of various potions, such as the Draught of Living Death[3] and the Wiggenweld Potion.[5]

Behind the scenes[]

  • Asphodel (Asphodelus ramosus) is a relative of the lily and native to Europe. The ancient Greeks associated it with the death and the underworld, believing there was a meadow of asphodel in Elysian Fields,[6] and considered it sacred to Persephone, goddess of the spring and queen of the underworld. Asphodel was once believed to be a favourite food of the dead, and so was commonly planted near graves.[7]

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

Herbology
Pottedmandrake
Herbologists
Astrid Cole · Clifford Cromwell · Marmaduke Dale · Blossom Degrasse · Miranda Goshawk · Alfred Lawley · Olgae Marinus · Beaumont Marjoribanks · Nepali wizard · Gethsemane Prickle · Sanjay Shanker · Selina Sapworthy · Phyllida Spore · Yubert Thorne · Tilden Toots · Hadrian Whittle · Winogrand
Herbology at Hogwarts
Herbology Award · Herbology Lesson Cup · Herbology Race Cup · Herbology Store · Hidden Herbology Corridor
Greenhouses One · Two · Three · Four · Five · Six · Seven · Professor's office
Professors Mirabel Garlick's predecessor · Mirabel Garlick · Herbert Beery · Pomona Sprout · Neville Longbottom
Textbooks Flesh-Eating Trees of the World · Ingredient Encyclopedia · One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi · Winogrand's Wondrous Water Plants
Plants studied and grown at Hogwarts
Aconite · Alihotsy · Asphodel · Belladonna · Bouncing Bulb · Bubotuber · Bubotuber pus · Chinese Chomping Cabbage · Cowbane · Dandelion · Devil's Snare · Dirigible Plum · Dittany · Fanged Geranium · Fat cactus-like plant · Fire seed bush · Flitterbloom · Floo · Flutterby bush · Fluxweed · Gillyweed · Ginger · Greenhouse Tree · Hemlock · Honking daffodil · Ivy · Knotgrass · Lady's Mantle · Lavender · Leaping Toadstool · Lovage · Mandrake · Mimbulus mimbletonia · Mistletoe · Moly · Nettle · Peppermint · Puffapod · Raspberry · Rose · Sage · Screechsnap · Scurvy grass · Self-fertilising shrub · Shrivelfig · Snargaluff · Sneezewort · Sopophorous plant · Sopophorous Bean · Spiky Bush · Spiky Prickly Plant · Stinksap · Sugar Shrub · Toad-eating plant · Tormentil · Umbrella Flower · Valerian · Vampiric vegetation · Venomous Tentacula · Walking plant · Wax vegetables · Whomping Willow · Wiggentree · Wild rice · Wormwood
Spells taught in Herbology at Hogwarts
Fire-Making Spell (Incendio) · Herbivicus Charm (Herbivicus) · Incendio Duo Spell (Incendio Duo) · Lumos Solem Spell (Lumos Solem) · Severing Charm (Diffindo)
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