Hops – Humulus lupulus

Botanical description: Perennial native climber. The leaves have 3-5 lobes and have coarsely toothed margins. They are rough to touch due to hairs. The stems are also hairy and have angles; they may be up to 6  metres in length. The plant is monoeceous . The male flowers are many branched inflorescences. The female flowers consists of a cone-like structure of papery bracts that enclose the tiny flowers and later the fruits.

Parts used: strobiles.

Harvesting, cultivation and habitat: It is native throughout the region except for North Scotland and is found in hedges and thickets. It has been naturalized from widespread cultivation as well as its wild distribution.  The female flowers are collected in August and September.

History/Folklore/Taste/Energetics: Apparently those gathering hops can suffer gynomastia due to its highly oestrogenic effects; it can also produce psychotropic effects similar to those of other members of its family. In Roman times it was used as a food plant, with the young tips being gathered to eat similar to asparagus. The practice of using it to preserve beer developed in the early middle ages particularly in Bavaria, but also throughout France and Germany.  The common name comes from Middle English in which hop meant to climb. Lupulus come from the Latin Lupus, meaning wolf-like due to its habit of choking other plants.  The stem fibres have been used, like those of its relative hemp, to make both paper and cloth. Bitter, aromatic. It influences the Heart, Kidney and Liver meridians. It circulates constrained chi and balances Heart and Kidney Yin deficiency

Constituents, Volatile oil, Resin, Tannins.

Actions Sedative, Hypnotic, Bacteriostatic, Bitter tonic for liver and digestive system, Anaphrodisiac for men, Oestrogenic, Weak diuretic

 Traditional and current uses

• IBS, especially with mucus in stools
• Nervous indigestion and dyspepsia
• Anorexia
• Insomnia
• Irritable bladder
• Neuralgia
• Amenorrhoea
• Spasmodic dysmenorrhoea
• Painful or unwanted erections
• Premature ejaculation
• Externally as a poultice for ulcerating wounds and rheumatic pain
• Anxiety states
• Delirium tremens

This herbal monograph is used with the permission of The Plant Medicine School.