Female plants bear papery, cone-like structures that have been used to flavour and preserve beer since the Middle Ages
Wild hop — its bacteriostatic properties.
Nature · Ferns, grasses & other plants
Wild hop
Native · flowers July–September · twining climber to 6 m or more · hedgerows, fens and river banks
Humulus lupulus — Cannabaceae
The wild hop is a native twining climber of hedgerows, fen edges and river banks, its rough, lobed leaves and papery green cones scrambling over hawthorn and willow each late summer. It is the wild ancestor of the crop that flavours beer, and it belongs to the same family as cannabis. Male and female flowers grow on separate plants, and only the females bear the cone-like hops.
How to spot them
- ▸Rough, opposite, deeply three- to five-lobed leaves with toothed margins, on bristly stems
- ▸Twines around supports, commonly described as clockwise, using stiff hooked hairs rather than tendrils
- ▸Female plants: papery, cone-shaped 'hops', light green ripening to brown; male plants have loose branching clusters of small greenish flowers
- ▸A distinctive scent, a bit like garlic, apples and yeast (Woodland Trust)
- ▸Look-alike: white bryony has alternate leaves, coiling tendrils and red berries, and is poisonous; hop has opposite leaves, no tendrils and green cones
How to know it
A twining climber with rough, opposite, three- to five-lobed leaves and no tendrils
Wild hop.
Male and female flowers grow on different plants; only the female has the cones
Wild hop — dioecious.
A member of the cannabis family, Cannabaceae
Wild hop — Humulus lupulus.
Its species name means 'little wolf', from an old idea that it strangled the trees it climbed like a wolf on sheep
Wild hop — lupulus.
Young spring shoots are eaten in parts of Europe as 'hop tops', like asparagus, but the plant is toxic to dogs
Wild hop.
Quick-fire facts
- •Native (Woodland Trust), found across the UK except parts of Scotland; flowers July to September
- •Grown for beer since the Middle Ages because its resins have bacteriostatic properties; also used to treat anxiety and sleep problems and historically as a sedative
- •Dioecious: separate male and female plants; only the female produces the cone-like hops
- •Twines clockwise, commonly described, whereas black bryony and honeysuckle twine the other way
- •Belongs to Cannabaceae, the family of cannabis
- •Hops are toxic to dogs; the plant is eaten only cooked, as young shoots (hop tops), in parts of continental Europe
- •Difference from white bryony: hop leaves are opposite and it has no tendrils; the bryony has alternate leaves and tendrils
- •Dense hop growth gives a valuable refuge for insects and nesting or roosting birds, and nectar for pollinators
Drill it — 6 cards
1 / 6new card
Sources
- Woodland Trust — Hop (Humulus lupulus) - British Plants