Masculine & Feminine

Whats the difference between Masculine and Feminine herbs? What is the point to them and why should we be aware of them when we use them in our magic? Is there even a point?

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My own take on things labeled as masculine and feminine falls more into the Principle of Gender in Hermeticism. It does not represent an actual sex or gender, but a list of qualities. Of course, there are some plants which are distinctly male or female, but for the most part, this is not what correspondence lists are talking about.

There are some things to consider: Neither quality is necessarily kind nor strict. Both contain both qualities. It is why the Pillar of Severity in the Kabalistic Tree of Life is the portion associated with feminine qualities (just using this as an example). Feminine energy is often considered receptive, intuitive, fast to think and slow to act (as in not leaping into action without consideration first). But it is also severe in the sense of being disciplinary. The example is often given of an angry mother. All of her loving, caring nature still exists towards her child, but does she ever pour the chastisement down upon the one who misbehaved!

Similarly, there are crossing lines with other metaphorical qualities, such as the four elements. Fire, for example, is considered a very Masculine quality, though I do not work with herbs and I will not doubt there are Fire-related herbs considered Feminine in nature as well. I am not one to take most correspondence charts at their face values, but they can help researching individual herbs (staying on topic with this one) to understand why the specific qualities are assigned that one.