348 CANNABACE^ 



Carefully watch the strobile from day to day in order to understand the 

 change from ' burr ' to ' hop.' 



Ex. 179. — Examine the flower and inflorescence of a male hop plant. 



Ex. 180. — On which part of the bracteoles of a strobile are the 'lupulin' 

 glands situated? Are any present (i) on the axis of the strobile, (z) on its 

 stipular bacts, or (3) on the perianth of the female flowers ? 



Ex. 181. — Examine the ' lupulin '-glands with a low-power microscope. 



4. Hemp {Cannabis sativa L.). — An annual dioecious plant in- 

 troduced to Europe from the East. It is cultivated for its tough 

 bast fibres, from which sail-cloths, sacking, and other coarse 

 textile materials are prepared. 



Its fruits, popularly termed ' seeds,' are also used for feeding 

 small cage-birds and poultry. The seeds contain from 20 to 

 25 per cent, of a fatty oil, sometimes used as a substitute or 

 adulterant of linseed oil. The ' oilcake ' is utilised as a manure. 

 The stems of the plant, which produce many branches, are erect 

 and stiff, and usually grow to a height of 5 or 6 feet. The 

 bast fibres within are not so fine as those of flax, even when the 

 plants are grown thickly together. 



The leaves- are large and palmate, with from five to seven long 

 lanceolate serrated leaflets. 



The male flowers have five-lobed perianths and five stamens ; 

 they resemble those of the hop, and are borne in loose panicled 

 inflorescences as in the latter plant. The female flowers are also 

 very similar in structure to those of the hop, and are produced 

 on separate plants usually of larger growth than those on which 

 male flowers are borne. 



Sparsely scattered glandular hairs are met with on the leaves 

 and stems of the plant. In the hot climates of India, Syria, and 

 elsewhere these glands secrete a volatile oil, and a resin which 

 has powerful narcotic properties ; in colder climates the secretion 

 is almost devoid of poisonous qualities, although the plant pos- 

 sesses a peculiar stupefying odour. Hemp succumbs to a 

 moderate degree of frost, consequently when grown in this 



