Rat Root

Chapter 8

Rat Root, also known as Acorus calamus. Rat Root is the Canadian Cree name for this plant, and was adopted as the universal name for this plant among Herbology circles. Other labels this plant goes by include sea sledge, flag root, myrtle grass, sweet myrtle, sweet rush (and other combinations of all the previous words), Gladdon, and Beewort. *Beware, Rat Root is an abortifacient and therefore pregnant women may not be treated with it. Rat Root is a reed-like perennial which grows to the height of about one meter. Its leaves are strongly scented with a bitter taste, and the powdered rhizomes of Rat Root may be used as a substitute for ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg (although this is not recommended, as this plant should not be taken in high doses or over long periods of time). Rat root has been viewed as a symbol of love, but Herbologists refute this, as the properties of Rat Root are not conducive to romance, but are often used as a tool against women. Some qualities of Rat Root · Abortifacient · Anodyne (relives pain) · Anthelmintic · Aphrodisiac (used in some love potions) · Carminative · Counters the side effects of hallucinogens · Diuretic · Hallucinogen · Laxative · Otalgic (cures ear aches) · Sedative The uses of Rat Root vary widely, as the herb is rather universal in properties and abilities (which perhaps explains its continued popularity despite the toxicity). Due to the sweet smell of the herb, Rat Root is commonly used in floor coverings. Rat Root is used in various ways in the art of Healing. Some symptoms Rat Root can help cure are tooth aches, burns, and eye diseases. In powdered form Rat Root is capable of clearing a cough and relieving the strain on one’s voice. This herb is also used to help people after a stroke, in the recovery process. Seventeenth century Herbologist Nicholas Culpeper completed research which suggests that Rat Root strengthens the mind and stomach, and this led to the use of Rat Root in some digestive potions. Rat rot is also used as a mild tonic, and can be used to calm people’s nervousness in mildly stressful situations. Rat Root is a water plant, and thus grows in moist soils. It is thereby necessary to water the herb about once every two to three days. Sunlight is a huge must for Rat Root; do not plant this one in the shade! The more sun that Rat Root receives the more useful the plant is for its properties. Rat Root grows best in shallow water, marshes, by the edge of a river, or in ponds. If you were to grow Rat Root yourself you would need a soil which holds a lot of water. One trick muggles use when growing this plant now is they take baby diapers or large pads, rip them apart and take the absorbent materials and mix it in with the soil. Some wizards prefer natural rather than magical methods when controlling soil conditions and also use this method. Since soil controlling spells are beyond your magical capabilities, we will go over this process now. Super Water Soil: Step One: Get the disposable diaper. (It can be new or gently used, but uh, I recommend a new one. Especially for working with magical plants). But the diaper in a bucket then soak with water until the water is no longer being absorbed. You can add food coloring to the padding when you soak it with water if you want. It looks cool if you do, and some people do it to distinguish which soil has the padding mixed in or not. The food colouring can also cause interesting changes to the look of your plants. However, for this reason we will not be using food colouring to do this in our class. Step Two: Cut open one side of the diaper and pull out the inner padding which is now soaked. From experience, if feels kind of funny. Put it in a bowl. Use your fingers to separate the chunks of the padding, which we will now call watergel, into as small of pieces as you can. The smaller they are, the better for your plant. Step Three: Mix an equal amount of soil and watergel until it is completely blended. Do not leave any cotton wads thick and bulgy. Everything in the watergel is able to be broken apart and mixed in the soil to make one new inseparable substance. Your soil will now be light, fluffy, and able to hold water! SOMETHING EXTRA - Seeds are ripe in July and August, and should be planted quite quickly after you obtain them. Rat Root has its flowering season between May and July.