22 FAMILIAR WILD FLOWERS. 



reasons for assigning them to the various plants are 

 now unknown, and the reasons that induced Linnaeus 

 thus to associate the hop with the soil are not 

 forthcoming. Some writers suggest that the name is 

 somewhat figurative, and refers to the feeble habit 

 of the plant ; this is a very unsatisfactory explan- 

 ation, as the hop is a strong and vigorous plant, as any 

 one can testify who has watched the rapidity with which 

 it grows over a hedge or upon any support. Another 

 theory is that the hop, if not supported, would grow and 

 trail on the ground ; this would-be explanation is too feeble 

 to need any comment. The best explanation, perhaps, is 

 that the hop is so-called from the rich soil or mould it 

 requires ; but this is, after all, only the best explanation 

 out of a very poor choice, and it largely shares the 

 unsatisfactory nature of the others. Lupulns is, we fear, 

 equally unsatisfactory ; it is derived from the Latin word 

 lupus, a wolf. Pliny calls the hop Lupus salictarius, or 

 willow-wolf, and it is suggested that it derived this 

 name from the tenacity with which it clung to the 

 willow and the injury it caused it. The hop has certainly 

 no special preference for the willow. Probably we have 

 lost sight of some ancient legend or other that would 

 help us to an understanding of the name. 



The root of the hop trefoil is small, somewhat fibrous 

 and branching. Running stalks, some eight or nine 

 inches in length, spring from the base of the stem and 

 spread themselves freely all round. They are generally 

 somewhat weak and procumbent in habit, but at other 

 times are nearly erect. The central stems are ordinarily 

 the most upright ; as a rule all the stems are slightly 

 clothed with downy hair, and they are often reddish 



