Japanese name: カナムグラ（鉄葎） Scientific name:Humulus scandens
[Overview]
A climbing annual found along roadsides and in vacant lots.
The stems and petioles have downward-pointing bristles.
The leaves are opposite, 5–12 cm long, and deeply palmately divided into 5–7 lobes.
The upper surface of the leaf has coarse hairs, and the lower surface has yellow glandular dots.
The leaf margins have low serrations.
The petioles are long.
The plant is dioecious.
The male inflorescences arise from the upper leaf axils and are conical, made up of clustered cymes.
The male flowers are small and yellowish white, and the corolla is 5-lobed.
The female inflorescences arise from the upper leaf axils and are spherical, made up of clustered dichasia.
The female flowers have no petals and are enclosed in green, herbaceous bracts.
The bracts are ovate, curl back, and often take on a purplish brown color at the fruiting stage.
The fruit is an achene with no glandular dots and with fine hairs on the upper part.
[Uses]
The fruit spikes are used as a folk medicine.
