First thing you should know about fire plants: they are not to be touched. Fire plants either are constantly on fire, or will burst into flame when touched by human hands. In certain cases Dragonhide gloves will not be enough to protect you. That alone should tell you something, because Dragonhide can withstand more flame than any other textured material. Do not go into a situation with a Fire Plant until you are certain about how you plan on handling the plant.

Fireweed is my personal favorite of all fire plants. It is of the later variety of Fire Plants, keeping its flame in its cells until touched or prodded. The fire inside the plant is usually about 60 degrees Celsius, which is fairly low for fire plants. Of all the fire plants, Fireweed is the only one capable of producing flowers. They are the sole diet of the legendary Firebirds, and can only be found in the Middle East and some areas nearby. I first managed to encounter the plant on a research trip to Egypt. In order to harvest the plant, you must water it with the coldest water you can obtain that is not frozen. If you use a freezing charm on Fireweed, it will die immediately. There are several healing uses for Fireweed, including curing boils, and properly instigating the healing of cuts. There is a Fireweed flavour of ice cream, which is quite healthy due to the richness in vitamin C.

Fire Seed Bushes exist mainly or their Fire Seeds. There are no leaves on the bush, but only Fire Seeds. This is certainly a plant you do not touch, even with the best gloves in the world on. The seeds are the “fire” part of the plant, being about 1400 degrees Celsius. The seed may be used to increase the heat of an already existing flame, and is able to bring a fire up to about 4986.85 degrees Celsius. The seed is also an object of destruction, as it will burn through most materials it touches and can take away the life of an animal or person who gets too close. There are also a couple of potions in which Fire Seeds come handy.

In order to harvest Fire Seeds, a witch might cast a freeing charm on the plant, and recast the spell every nineteen to twenty one minutes. Don’t forget to wait 180 seconds after casting for the seed’s temperature to decrease enough to be held by dragonhide gloves.

There is definitely a side to Fire Plants Herbologists have yet to understand. The fact that fire can be life-giving and creative is a secret revealed in these plants. However, there is still much we do not understand of the fire plant. For example, humans are unable to exist in an area with a dry air temperature of 120 degrees for much longer than a few moments. If all the Fire Plants in the world were to release their heat to the full potential we realize that they are capable of, there would be no human or creature left alive. Obviously, this isn’t what the Fire Plants seek. Fire Plants do not attack, and seem to avoid harming life to the best of their capabilities. Unless you purposefully touch the plant, you will not feel its heat or be burned. In fact, the plant may lean away from you as best it can to create the most room for your presence. Many Eastern monks of various faiths like to go and meditate in front of a Fire Plant for this purpose. It seems impossible to understand exactly how the Fire Plants retain their extreme heat in close range to itself, rather than the heat spreading naturally out into the air around it. Fire Plants generally contain their heat in a three to seven inch radius around itself, three being more common. There are two main theories that have not been proven (perhaps one of you, my students, will discover a way to prove or disprove those theories). The first theory is that plant has some sort of magical protective field around it. This magical bubble filters the heat, turning it into the temperature of the air outside the field before releasing it. The second theory is that the plants magically draw the heat back into themselves in a cyclical manner. Imagine it is breathing the heat in and out, or just that it is breathing out and then soaking the heat back in constantly. This second theory makes more sense to me; however, both theories find equal credibility in Herbologist circles.