Hop Vine Closeup, Philadelphia in album Philadelphia

In Albums: Philadelphia plants

Jun 16th, 2011, by Alex Zorach

This photo shows hops growing wild in the Northern Liberties neighborhood of Philadelphia.

Hops, in the genus Humulus, are closely related to marijuana or hemp (Cannabis), and if you have ever seen cannabis plants, you will see the similarity in terms of the radially pointed shape, coarsely hairy leaves, and neat, opposite branching of leaves and stems. Hops, in contrast to cannabis, has whole leaves, with deep lobes, whereas in cannabis plant the lobes correspond instead to multiple narrow leaflets forming the characteristic leaf shape.

Hops have a very coarse, rough texture, as all above-ground parts of the plant are fairly densely covered by coarse hairs. These can be a bit rough on the skin if you pull this plant out without gloves.