Scientific Name: Humulus lupulus
Family: Cannabaceae (Cannabis Family)
Common name: Hops
Description: Common hops is a perennial, herbaceous, climbing plant which sends up new shoots in early spring and dies back to a cold-hardy rhizome in autumn; flowers July-August and fruits September-October. The female flowers are known as hops and are used as a culinary flavoring and stabilizer, especially in the brewing of beer.
Range and Habitat: Hops is native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere in alluvial woods.
In Porcher’s time… Hops were thought to have some narcotic power and was used by some as a good substitute for laudanum. It was used to relieve symptoms of tuberculosis and asthma, as a poultice, of course, for making beer.
See the historical entry on this plant as it appears in Resources of the Southern Fields and Forests