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 Common Hop plant (Humulus lupulus)
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Humulus lupulus L. |
Humulus, (hop) is a small genus of flowering plants, native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The female flowers often called cones, of one species are called hops, and are used as flavoring and stabilizers, especially for brewing beer. The hop is part of the family Cannabaceae, which also includes the genus Cannabis (hemp).
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Description
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 20–50 cm per week (1 to 3 inches per day). Hop bines climb by wrapping clockwise around anything within reach, and individual bines typically grow between 2 to 15 m (6 to 50 feet) depending on what is available to grow on. The leaves are opposite, with a 7–12 cm (2¾ to 4¾ inch) Petiole and a cordate-based, palmately lobed blade 12–25 cm long (4¾ to 10 inch) and broad; the edges are coarsely toothed. When the hop bines run out of material to climb, horizontal shoots sprout between the leaves of the main stem to form a network of stems wound round each other.
Species
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There are three species, one with five varieties:
- Humulus japonicus (syn. H. scandens). Asian Hop. Leaves with 5–7 lobes. Eastern Asia.
- Humulus lupulus. Common Hop. Leaves with 3–5 lobes. Europe, western Asia, North America.
- Humulus lupulus var. lupulus. Europe, western Asia.
- Humulus lupulus var. cordifolius. Eastern Asia.
- Humulus lupulus var. lupuloides (syn. H. americanus). Eastern North America.
- Humulus lupulus var. neomexicanus. Western North America.
- Humulus lupulus var. pubescens. Midwest North America.
- Humulus yunnanensis. Yunnan Hop. Leaves with 3–5 lobes, densely hairy below. Southeast Asia (endemic in Yunnan, China).
Brewers' hops are specific cultivars, propagated by asexual reproduction: see List of hop varieties.
Notes
References
- Lee W. Janson, Ph. D.; Brew Chem 101; Storey Publishing; ISBN 0-88266-940-0 (paperback, 1996)
External links
- Jeanine S. DeNoma: Humulus Genetic Resources (USDA ARS National Clonal Germplasm Repository)
- Portal to many sites on hopping and society
- Hops varieties research
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 17 November 2008, at 13:05.
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