Harry Potter and the Mandrake
Wednesday, December 6th, 2006There was an interesting article titled Harry Potter and the Glory of the Garden in the Daily Mail (a London Newspaper) yesterday. Despite the headline, there’s only a vague reference to Harry Potter (see quote below), but the article is quite fascinating nonetheless.
“Sometimes, the media helps to educate the unbeliever. Thanks to Harry Potter, there is a great demand to see the mandrake plant (Mandragora officinarum).”
What makes this article a good read is the garden in question, The Chelsea Physic Garden, seems like it’s straight out of the pages of Harry Potter. It was founded in 1863 by the Worshipful Society of the Apothecaries of London with the mission of teaching the identification of plants and, according to the article, “the healing arts of growing plants which provided cures for the plagues and pestilences of the time.”
If you read only one thing today read this bit of history about the Mandrake. Wow.
“5. Mandrake - Remember the mandrakes in ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’? The root of the mandrake looks a bit like a little person. People once believed the roots would scream if anyone tried to pull them it up, and that whoever heard the screams would die an instant and agonising death! In order to avoid such a painful end, mandrake hunters would tie one end of a rope around the mandrake root and the other end round their dog, then run away and hide at a safe distance behind a bush. Once hidden, they’d wave a tasty scrap of meat at their dog who’d then come bounding towards his owner, dragging the newly uprooted mandrake behind him. (Warning: Mandrake is very poisonous)”
It sounds a little bit like Neville’s dream garden.
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