THE COMMON HOP 



333 



so-called wild hops so frequent in the hedges in the south of 

 England, are no doubt generally escapes from cultivation or 

 seedlings from cultivated plants in the neighbourhood. 



The short young shoots are occasionally utilised as a substitute 

 for asparagus, and from the ' fibre ' of the stem a coarse kind of 

 cloth can be made, but these uses of the plant are of no practical 

 importance. 



Seed and Germination. — In autumn the female inflor- 

 escences or ' hops,' if left on the 

 plants, readily break up, and the 

 bracts (mentioned below) to which 

 the fruits are attached are carried 

 some distance by the wind. The 

 single seed within each fruit con- 

 tains a spirally curved embryo, 

 which germinates only after a rest 

 during the winter. In spring the 

 young plants appear above ground, 

 and possess two narrow strap- 

 shaped cotyledons (Fig. 103). 



Root. — The primary root of a 

 seedling hop produces several 

 branches which soon equal it in 

 thickness. From all the thicker roots a great abundance of 

 hair-like fibrils are given off. 



A striking feature in both old and young plants is the exceed- 

 ingly large root-system which they possess in comparison with the 

 parts which come above ground. The thicker roots are covered 

 with a mass of loose reddish-brown bark. Some of them penetrate 

 to very great depths in the ground, entering cracks and openings 

 wherever the subsoil is rocky ; others remain nearer the surface, 

 and spread horizontally in the upper layers of the soil, giving 

 rise at the same time to an enormous number of fine fibrils. 

 Adventitious roots are abundant on the underground stems. 



Fig. 103. — I. Seedling hop, one week 

 old. 2. The same, two weeks old. 

 r Root ; k hypocotyl ; c cotyledon. 



