Humulus lupulus var. lupulus (common hop, "Hoppu")

Japanese name: ホップ
Scientific name: Humulus lupulus var. lupulus

[Overview]
A climbing perennial.
It has rhizomes underground.
The stems and leaves have downward-pointing bristles.
The vine twines counterclockwise and grows to 10 m long.
Leaves are simple and opposite, ovate to heart-shaped, and palmately divided into 3–7 lobes.
The leaf margins are serrated.
The leaf stalks are long.
It is dioecious.
The male inflorescences arise from the upper leaf axils as conical inflorescences made up of clustered cymes, bearing many male flowers.
The male flowers are small and yellow, and the corolla is 5-lobed.
The female inflorescences arise from the upper leaf axils as globular, drooping inflorescences made up of clustered dichasia.
The female flowers have no petals and are enclosed in dry, membranous bracts.
The fruit is an achene.

[Uses]
The young female inflorescences are used to give beer its aroma and bitterness.
In ancient Egypt it was used as medicine.

[Cultivation]
Propagate by division or by shoot cuttings.
It is very cold-hardy, prefers a cool climate with little rain, and dislikes heat and humidity; commercial cultivation is centered in the Tohoku region.
It prefers a sunny, well-drained, calcareous soil.
Avoid places that receive afternoon sun from the west.
Water thoroughly when the soil surface dries.
Apply slow-release fertilizer as a base fertilizer.
The best time to harvest is 10–45 days after flowering, when the glands at the base of the bracts turn pale yellow and give off a characteristic aroma.

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