The Hop. 169 



The Hop. 



The Humulus Lupulus — Hop, belongs in the class Dicecia, 

 order Pentandria. The generic name is derived from the Latin 

 humus, moist or fresh earth, which is the soil it loves. Its char- 

 acters are : Male — calyx five-leaved ; corolla, none. Female — 

 calyx one-leaved, spreading obliquely, entire ; corolla none ; styles 

 two ; seed one, within a leafed calyx. Pliny considers its spe- 

 cific name given on account of its growing among the willows, 

 and was as destructive, by winding around and choking them up, 

 as the wolf (lupus) to the flock. It belongs to the Nettle family 

 — Urticacece. It is a native of most countries in Europe, as well 

 as of the United States, proving that whatever is really valuable 

 to man is found universally diffused and ready to his hand for 

 use. From its great value it is more frequently seen in the cul- 

 tivated state, than when growing wild. It is not only very use- 

 ful but very ornamental. The root is perennial. The stems, 

 which are annual, are long and climbing, turning from right 

 to left, quite rough, and covered with small prickles, which are 

 bent backwards. The leaves are placed opposite each other on 

 long winding footstalks ; the smaller ones are somewhat heart- 

 shaped, the larger more deeply lobed, generally cut into three or 

 five parts, toothed on the margin, veined, and noted for their ex- 

 treme roughness. The flowering branches are axillary, or come 

 out from the angle between the leaf and stem ; they are rough and 

 angular. The appendages at the base, between the petioles, are 

 of a reversed egg-shape, generally numbering from two to four. 

 The flowers are of a greenish yellow color, and exceedingly nu- 

 merous, and present a very, we can use no other term, genteel ap- 

 pearance ; on which account, gentility, instead of its old em- 

 blem injustice, has been proposed as a substitute in floral lan- 

 guage. It has no corolla; the anthers are oblong, supported 

 on short filaments, and have two terminal pores which burst to 

 eject the pollen. The calyx of the barren plant has five spread- 

 ing concave leaves, somewhat oblong in shape ; those of the 

 fertile flowers are in the form of a catkin. The germ is com- 

 pressed, somewhat round, supported by two short styles which 

 have long, narrow, sharp-pointed, and hairy stigmas. The calyx, 



