HOW TO KNOW THE WILD FLOWERS 



By the REV. H. PUREFOY FITZGERALD, F.L.S. 

 With Photographs by HENRY IRVING 



THE FLOWERS OF THE HEDGE-CLIMBERS— II 



THE HOP 



THERE are very few, I expect, who 

 would place the Hop, the Fig and 

 the ^lulberry in the same family 

 as the Stinging Nettle. To the casual 

 observer there would 

 be few points of re- 

 semblance, but, in 

 fact, they are all very 

 nearly allied. The 

 Hop {Humulus liipii- 

 liis) is one of the 

 soft, green plants 

 that depend on others 

 entirely for support ; 

 the tips of the stem 

 are very sensitive, 

 and as the stem 

 moves round, like the 

 hands of a watch, 

 with the sun, there 

 is a great chance that 

 this sensitive tip will 

 come in contact with 

 some means of sup- 

 port, and it will then 

 begin to twine round 

 it, from right to 

 left, in a spiral. The 

 flowers must be 

 sought for about the 

 end of July. These 

 are of two kinds ; 

 the male flowers are 

 produced in graceful, 

 green panicles, each 

 little blossom being 

 composed of five ]:>ale 

 yellowish green sepals 

 and five stamens. A 

 small panicle is 

 shown on the lower 

 right-hand side of the 

 photograph. The 



68 



female flowers are not nearly so numerous, 

 and might be mistaken for undeveloped 

 male blooms ; the branches which bear 

 these are leafy, and the flowers spring 

 from the axils of the leaves, that is, 



THE HOP. 



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