SECRETARY'S REPORT. 95 



latter only one large oval leaf. The root generally sends up 

 many roughs flexible stems, which twine from left to right around 

 poles or upright supports to a height varying from ten to twenty- 

 five feet. The leaves are indented like a saw, shaped like a heart, 

 opposite to each other, and growing on small stalks, rough, or 

 covered with prickles like a nettle, and of a dark-green color, 

 sometimes entire, and sometimes divided. The flowers of the 

 male plant grow in clusters a little like currant blossoms, with 

 a calyx of five oblong sepals, and five short capillary filaments, 

 and upright double-celled anthers. The flowers of the female 

 plant are cones, strobiles, or catkins, of many scales, and 

 of an ovate form, pendulous, and slightly resembling the cones 

 of a pine. They are covered with a fine yellow powder called 

 Lupuline. The scales are of a pale green, overlapping each 

 other. It has two downy styles, shaped like an awl, and spread- 

 ing. The stigmas are simple. Each enlarged dry scale has a 

 single seed attached to its base, round, and of a brownish color, 

 having a sharp rim. The blossoms of the hop are bitter, and 

 slightly narcotic, and are the most valuable part. 



But one variety of the male plant is known ; while several 

 distinct varieties of the female are well known, and have been 

 cultivated from remote antiquity. The chief varieties known 

 and cultivated in England are the golding hop, known and cul- 

 tivated here also ; the Canterbury grape hop, also grown on 

 rich' soils in the county of Kent ; the Mayfield grape hop, grown 

 on nearly all kinds of good soil ; the golden-tips hop ; the 

 Farnham, celebrated in some sections for its superior qualities ; 

 and the Flemish redbine, a coarse and hardy variety, more 

 nearly approaching the wild plant than the others. The grape 

 hop is common here."' 



i ore is a plant improperly called the " tree hop," the fruit of which is sometimes 

 used as a substitute for the true hop. This is the Ptelea trifoliate of Linna'us. It 

 is the Shrubby Trefoil, sometimes called Swamp Dogwood, or Stinking Ash. It is 

 a beautiful shrub or small tree, with greenish-white flowers, growing in clusters, 

 and resembling the common hop. Its name is derived from a Greek word, signify- 

 ing to fly, from the resemblance of its fruit to that of the elm, being furnished with 

 a thin covering like a wing. Its bark and foliage are bitter and aromatic, acting as 

 a tonic. It has but few branches, brittle, and filled with pith. Its bark is of a 

 beautiful, smooth purple. It may be easily propagated by cuttings, seeds or layers. 

 It is an inferior substitute for hops, though often used for yeast and other purposes. 



