Cannabaceae

 

                Kingdom:  Plantae

                   Phylum:  Magnoliophyta

                      Class:  Magnoliopsida

                         Subclass:  Hamamelididae

                            Order:  Urticales

                               Family:  Cannabaceae

                                                                                         
                                         


                              Cannabis                                                                                                                                                              


Family Description
Cannabaceae is a small group of flowing plants which include cannabis (marijuana), hemp and hops.  According to the Royal Botanical Gardens database, there are 170 species grouped in nine to fifteen genera, including Celtis (Hackberries), a genus with over 100 species.  Hackberries are tall trees and not dioecious and herbaceous like cannabis, hemp and hops.  Celtis is often considered a sister family, Celtidaceae, and will not be considered for this topic; although recent genetic analysis by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group has included Celtis into the Cannabaceae family.

 

Cannabaceae leaves are often palmately lobed or palmately compound. Cannabaceae are often dioecious (distinct male and female plants).  The flowers are actinomorphic (radially symmetrical) and not showy or colorful since they are wind pollinated.  As an adapation to wind pollination, the calyx (sepal) is short and there is no corolla (petals).   Flowers are grouped to form cymes.  The male dioecious plant inflorescences are long and look like panicle; branched cluster of flowers in which the branches are racemes.  The female dioecious plants are shorter and bear fewer flowers.  The pistil is made of two connate carpels and the ovary is unilocular and usually superior.  There are no fixed number of stamens.  The fruit can be an achene or a small nut.


                                                          huja_001_shp                                                        180px-Humleranka4                                                             


Hops:  Genus Humulus
Hops is a small genus of flowing plants native to the Northern Hemisphere.  The female flower cones, called hops, are used as flavorings and stabilizers during the brewing of beer.  The hop plant is a vigorous climbing herbaceous perennial.  Frequently referred to as the hop vine, it is technically a bine; unlike vines, which use tendrils, suckers, and other appendages for attaching themselves, bines have stout stems with stiff hairs to aid in climbing. It is a perennial plant which sends up new shoots in early spring and dies back to the cold-hardy rhizome in autumn. Hop shoots grow very rapidly and at the peak of growth can grow 1 to 3 inches per day! Hop bines climb by wrapping clockwise around anything within reach, and individual bines typically grow between 6 to 50 feet depending on what is available to grow on. The leaves are opposite, with a 2¾ to 4¾ inch Petiole and palmately lobed blade 4 to 10 inch and broad; the edges are coarsely toothed. When the hop bines run out of material to climb, horizontal shoots sprout between the leaves of the main stem to form a network of stems.



There are three species, one with five varieties:

Humulus japonicus -Asian Hop. Leaves with 5–7 lobes. Eastern Asia.

Humulus lupulus - Common Hop. Leaves with 3–5 lobes. Europe and estern Asia In North America :

Humulus unnanensis - Yunnan Hop. Leaves with 3–5 lobes, densely hairy below. Southeast Asia

                                                                    
                                        hulu_002_shp                       hopspictures

                                                                                                                           Leaves of Hops plant



                                                                                             Distibution of Humulus lupulus
                                                         HUMUL

 

Worldwide Humulus Distribution
Native to Europe and western Asia, now cultivated in North and South America, Africa, Asia and Australia.  Naturalized in many areas.


Ecology
Ranging from Boreal wet through subtropical dry forest zones, annual temperature of 5.6 to 21.3°C, and pH of 4.5 to 8.2. Suitable for temperate climates between latitudes 35–51°N and 34–43°S, with mean summer temperatures of 16–18°C. Hops are quite hardy if other growing conditions are good. When dormant, they withstand freezing; however, a severe frost will kill young, tender vines in spring. Dry weather in September is best for the harvest. Hops do well over a wide range of soils provided they are fertile and moisture-holding. Light to heavy loams are best.

 

Weeds
Humulus can be weedy and invasive.  A few states consider the plant a noxious weed.


Economic Uses

The total world production for 2005 was 102,216 tonnes (225,350,000 lb) of hops, grown solely for the brewing industry. Bitter substance obtained from glandular hairs of strobilus are used by brewers for giving aroma and flavor to beer. Originally used for their preservative value, which prevents gram-negative bacteria from growing, brewers realized that hops imparted a flavor to their beer.  Hop resins are composed of two main acids, alpha and beta acids. Alpha acids have a mild antibiotic effect against Gram-positive bacteria.  Today, many different varieties of hops are grown by farmers throughout the world.  Different types of hops are used for particular styles of beer.  Brewer’s hops are usually specific cultivars that are propagated asexually by cloning.  Also, extracts are used in skin creams and lotions, in Europe, for alleged skin-softening properties. Extracts and oil are used as flavoring in nonalcoholic beverages, frozen dairy desserts, candy, baked goods, gelatins, and puddings. Additionally, young hop shoots can be eaten cooked as wild asparagus.


The 2005 world production of hops according to FAOSTAT was as follows;

  1. Germany 29,000 tonnes (64,000,000 pounds)
  2. USA 26,180 tonnes (57,720,000 lb)
  3. China 20,000 tonnes (44,000,000 lb)
  4. Czech Republic 6,800 tonnes (15,000,000 lb)
  5. Poland 3,355 tonnes (7,397,000 lb)
  6. Australia 2,000 tonnes (4,400,000 lb)
  7. North Korea 2,000 tonnes (4,400,000 lb)
  8. UK 2,000 tonnes (4,400,000 lb)
  9. Slovenia 1,500 tonnes (3,300,000 lb)
  10. France 1,400 tonnes (3,100,000 lb)

The total world production for 2005 was 102,216 tonnes (225,350,000 lb).



                                                                                              hemp04                                 
United States National Institute of Health, University of Mississippi marijuana plantation site, showing variation in plant size. A tall fiber-type of hemp plant is shown at left, and a short narcotic variety (identified as “Panama Gold”) at right.




Marijuana and Hemp:  Genus Cannabis
Cannabis is an annual, dioecious, flowering herb. The leaves are palmately compound, with serrate leaflets. The first pair of leaves usually have a single leaflet, the number gradually increasing up to a maximum of about thirteen leaflets per leaf (usually seven or nine), depending on variety and growing conditions. The lower leaf pairs usually occur in an opposite leaf arrangement and the upper leaf pairs in an alternate arrangement on the main stem of a mature plant.  Cannabis usually has imperfect flowers with staminate "male" and pistillate "female" flowers occurring on separate plants, although hermaphroditic plants sometimes occur.  Male flowers are borne on loose panicles, and female flowers are borne on racemes. It is not unusual for individual plants to bear both male and female flowers, though these are referred to as 'intersexual' or hermaphroditic rather than monoecious, since staminate and pistillate structures appear at different points on the plant, not within the same flower.  Cannabinoids, terpenoids, and other compounds are secreted by glandular trichomes that occur most abundantly on the floral calyxes and bracts of female plants.  All known strains of Cannabis are wind-pollinated and produce seeds, called achenes.  Most strains of Cannabis are short day plants with the possible exception of C. sativa subsp. sativa var. spontanea (= C. ruderalis), which is commonly described as "auto-flowering" and may be  day-neutral.

 

There are three species of Cannabis:
Cannabis Sativa – taller than C. indica with thinner leaves. (hemp) 
Cannabis Indica – shorter stature and broader leaves than C. sativa. 
Cannabis ruderalis – day neutral auto-flowering


                                                                                                            canna_001_shp
                                                                                                                     


                                                                                                                                                                canna_003_svp



                                                                                                                                        hemp43
                                                                                                                           ‘Panorama,’ the world’s only ornamental cultivar, with the breeder, Ivan Bócsa.





Distribution of Cannabis Sativa
       CASA3      



                                                                               hemp06
                                                                     ‘Finola,’ the first cultivar of Cannabis sativa bred exclusively for grain. 


Distribution of Cannabis Indica

                                              CASAI


Worldwide Cannabis Distribution
Cannabis, originally native to Central Asia, and long cultivated in Asia, Europe, and China is now a widespread tropical, temperate and subarctic cultivar.


Ecology
Cannabis plants are very adaptable to soil and climatic conditions. Hemp for fiber requires a mild temperate climate.  Cannabis thrives on rich, fertile, neutral to slightly alkaline, well-drained silt or clay loams with moisture retentive subsoils; does not grow well on acid, sandy soils. Of the many types of hemp, some are adapted to most vegetated terrains and climates. Ranging from cool temperate steppe to wet through tropical and very dry to wet forest life. Marijuana is reported to tolerate annual temperature of 6 to 27°C, and pH of 4.5 to 8.2


Weed
   Cannabis can be weedy and invasive.  A few states consider the plant a noxious weed.


                                                                                                             hemp01


Economic Uses
Hemp has a myriad of uses.  The hemp industry is a large, worldwide and diverse industry that manufactures many products for many different uses.  Fiber, textiles, medicine, oils, lubricants, food/nutritional source and even construction material are examples of the many applications of the hemp plant.  Marijuana is also used for its psychoactive effects.  Drug varieties of cannabis produce cannabinoids (one example is THC, delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol), which cause the psychoactive and physical effects.  In the early 20th century, it became illegal in most of the world to cultivate or possess Cannabis for drug purposes.
                                                                                                             



Bloc_de_chanvre_ep_15cm 
Concrete block made with hemp in France.  Hemp fibers are increasingly used to strengthen cement, and in
other composite materials for many construction and manufacturing applications. Hempcrete is used as a construction material.

                                                                                                      
  
                                                                                                                hemp22                                                                                                                                                       Experimental fiberboard made with hemp.


                                                                                                                hemp18                                                                                               
                                                                            C-class Mercedes-Benz automobiles have more than 30 parts made of natural fibers, including hemp.


                                                                                                                               hemp24
                                                               New building in France being constructed entirely of hemp. Wall castings are a conglomerate of Isochanvre® lime-hemp,
                                                                                              for production of a 200 mm thick monolithic wall without an interior wall lining.


                               
                                                                                                                                  hemp49
                                                                                                                                       Harvesting hemp in France.
THC (delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol)
                            Glands cover entire surface of the above ground portion of both pistillate (female) and staminate (male) plants, but are most abundant on bracts of female plants
                                              m2                                               m1
                                                       Stalked gland showing large head X300.

                                                                                                               


References:

http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/Wilson/tfp/ham/canpage2.htm

http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=10154

http://plants.usda.gov/java/ClassificationServlet?source=display&classid=Cannabaceae

http://www.hempreport.com/issues/17/malbody17.html

http://www.plantguide.org/hops-pictures.html

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/Humulus_lupulus.html
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/Cannabis_sativa.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hop_%28plant%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabaceae

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp
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