Hogwort

Taxobox
color = lightgreen
name = Hogwort
status =

secure

---

image_width = 250px
image_caption = Hogwort
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
ordo = Malpighiales
familia = Euphorbiaceae
subfamilia = Crotonoideae
tribus = Crotoneae
genus = "Croton"
species = "C. capitatus"
binomial = "Croton capitatus"
binomial_authority =

The hogwort ("Croton capitatus"), also known as the woolly croton is an annual plant with erect, branched stems, densely covered with light brown, wooly hairs that give it a whitish appearance. It grows in dry, open areas, especially sandy and rocky soils. It is distributed across the Southern U.S.A., and elsewhere.

Hogwort contains croton oil, a powerful laxative.

Trivia

British author J. K. Rowling did not deliberately name the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from her "Harry Potter" series of books after the hogwort. It was only after the books were published that a friend reminded her of seeing the plant in the Kew Gardens many years beforehand. Rowling speculated that the name had remained in her subconscious ever since cite news|url=http://www.hp-lexicon.org/hogwarts/w_pl_hogwarts.html|title=Visitor's Guide to Hogwarts|publisher=The Harry Potter Lexicon Retrieved 20 October 2007 ] .

ee also

*Croton
*List of Croton species

External links

* [http://www.noble.org/Ag/Wildlife/DeerFoods/PlantPhotos/C-029.html Noble Foundation Hogwort page]
* [http://uvalde.tamu.edu/herbarium/crca.htm Uvalde Research and Extension Center page on the Hogwort]

References

Further reading

* ISBN 0-89672-614-2