Tag: Hop

Humulus, Hop, is a small genus of flowering plants native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The hop is part of the family Cannabaceae, which also includes the genera Cannabis (hemp), and Celtis (hackberries).
The female flowers (often called “cones”) of the species H. lupulus are known as hops, and are used as a culinary flavoring and stabilizer, especially in the brewing of beer.
Although frequently referred to as the hop “vine”, it is technically a bine; unlike vines, which use tendrils, suckers, and other appendages for attaching themselves, bines have stout stems with stiff hairs to aid in climbing. It is a perennial herbaceous plant which sends up new shoots in early spring and dies back to the cold-hardy rhizome in autumn. Hop shoots grow very rapidly, and at the peak of growth can grow 20 to 50 centimetres (8 to 20 in) per week. Hop bines climb by wrapping clockwise (except for Humulus japonicus) around anything within reach, and individual bines typically grow…