Latinised form of the German name
Peter Hamilton, Graham Hughes and Roger Spencer
Right-hand (dextrorse) twining perennial or annual herbs. Leaves opposite, stalked, palmately lobed, heart-shaped at the base. Flowers unisexual. Sexes on separate plants. Male flowers in loose clusters with the calyx 5-lobed; stamens 5. Female flowers cone-like in a spike. Fruit an achene.
The female flower 'cones' of H. lupulus are used for flavouring beer with a bitter extract, lupulin or alpha acid.
3 species from temperate Eurasia.
Small (1978).
Source: (1997). Humulus. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 2. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 1. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
