Hops, Cleavers, Juniper

A member of the Cannabaceae, this perennial climber with annual stems runs to considerable height in hedges, trees, and shrubs, up to 6 meters (18 feet). The stems twist clockwise and give rise to opposite leaves at intervals — broadly ovate, cordate at the base, deeply 3–5 lobed, sharply-toothed, with acuminate lobes and a very rough surface; smaller leaves are single-lobed.

The plants are dioecious. Male flowers appear in catkins in the upper leaf axils, about 5 mm in diameter, yellowish-green, with a 5-segmented perianth and 5 stamens. Female flowers are closely stacked, cone-like strobili made up of bracts, with the flowers themselves tucked into the bract axils. After fertilization, these cones grow from 15–20 mm up to 5 cm in length, changing from pale greenish-yellow to yellow-brown to brown. The odour of the female strobiles is characteristically heavy, and the taste is bitter.

Distribution: Native to northern temperate zones; found in hedgerows and thickets, on damp humus-rich soils in warm situations.

Cultivation: Grows wild; also cultivated commercially in Northern Europe, North America, and Chile. Prefers moist, well-drained soil in sun or partial shade. Propagate by tip cuttings in spring from female plants, or by division. Remove the previous season's growth during dormancy.

Harvest: Flowers are picked in autumn and used fresh or dried. Note: some people find fresh Hops to be a skin irritant and allergen — worth mentioning to students who may be harvesting by hand.

Volatile oil: About 0.4–0.85%, composed mainly of humulene (α-caryophyllene) with β-caryophyllene, myrcene, farnesene, 2-methylbut-3-ene-2-ol, 3-methylbut-2-ene-1-ol, 2,3,5-trithiahexane, and similar compounds, with traces of acids such as 2-methylpropanoic and 3-methylbutanoic — these trace acids increase significantly in concentration in stored extracts.

Flavonols: Mainly glycosides of kaempferol and quercetin.

Resins: About 3–12%, composed of bitter acids such as lupulone, colupulone, and adlupulone.

Estrogenic substances: Of undetermined structure; two of these have molecular weights of approximately 66,000–80,000 and 80,000 respectively (see Teaching Point above).

Miscellaneous: Tannins, lipids, and chalcones including xanthohumol.

Pillow: Dried strobiles stuffed into a pillow and used as an ordinary pillow for insomnia — no measuring required.

Infusion: 14 g (½ oz) Hops to 476 ml (1 pint) boiling water. Dose 30–45 ml (2–3 tablespoons) every 1–3 hours as needed.

Decoction (for worms): 28 g (1 oz) Hops to 476 ml (1 pint) water. Dose 238–476 ml (½–1 pint) in the mornings.

Tincture: 2.5–5 ml (½–1 teaspoon) dose to induce sleep.

Poultice/fomentation: Applied externally, alone or combined with Chamomile, Poppy heads, or Ragwort, for inflammation, rheumatism, neuralgia, and boils.

Heated flannel bag: Applied externally for toothache and neuralgia.

Sedative effect: Avoid driving or operating machinery after taking this herb.

Avoid in depression: Given its strong nervine/sedative action, Hops should be avoided in depressive states.

Massive doses: Large doses of the aromatic oils can cause fever, sleeplessness, excitability, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, a feeling of heaviness, and loss of appetite — interestingly, most of these symptoms are the opposite of the herb's therapeutic effects at normal dose.

Avoid in lymphatic disorders: Per the source material, Hops should be avoided where lymphatic disease is present.

Skin irritation: Fresh (undried) Hops can be a skin irritant and allergen for some people during harvest and handling.

An annual herb with a straggling habit. The trailing, quadrangular, rough stem can reach 1.2 m (4 feet) and climbs by hooked bristles. Leaves are prickly, cuneate, borne in whorls of 6–9, with coarse hairs on the margins. Flowers are very small, white or greenish-white, borne on inflorescences 2–3 cm (0.75–1.25 inches) long arising from the leaf axils and extending longer than the leaves — blooming in spring and summer. The fruit is bristly, globose, and green to purple.

Distribution: Native to Europe; naturalized elsewhere. Prefers moist, nutrient-rich loamy soils in weedy sites, particularly field and garden edges — a plant students are likely to already recognize from their own yards.

Cultivation: Moist, well-drained neutral to alkaline soil in shade or partial shade. Propagate by seed sown when ripe in summer, or by division in early spring or autumn.

Harvest: Plants are cut when flowering and used fresh, usually pressed for juice or infused in oil. Seeds are picked when ripe.

Iridoid glucosides: Including monotropein, asperuloside, and aucubin.

Phenolic acids: Including o- and p-hydroxybenzoic, p-coumaric, caffeic, and gallic acids.

Flavonoids: About 0.1%, as quercetin glycosides including isorhamnetin, and hesperidin. Luteolin has been isolated from the whole plant.

Coumarins: Umbelliferone and scopoletin have been isolated.

Tannins: 2.5%–4%, of the condensed type.

Other constituents: n-Alkanes, sterols, and fatty acids.

Fresh is preferred: Cleavers should, where possible, be given as a fresh infusion rather than prepared from dried herb.

Fresh infusion: Standard infusion of the fresh whole herb — used everyday for gravel, scalding urine, and bladder irritation.

Expressed juice (general/acute use): Fresh herb bruised thoroughly in a mortar, juice expressed by strong pressure. Dose 15–30 ml (½–1 fl oz) every 4–6 hours.

Expressed juice (tumors, sustained use): 5 ml (1 teaspoonful), taken fasting in the morning.

Expressed juice (skin disease, cancer): 30–59 ml (1–2 fl oz), taken three times daily.

Tea: Standard infusion for edema, scrofula, cancer, and long-standing ulcers.

External poultice: Fresh green herb, applied directly, sometimes combined with linseed meal.

Diabetes: Cleavers is a very powerful diuretic and should not be given where there is a tendency to diabetes. This is the sole contraindication given in the source material, but it is stated plainly and should be treated as a firm caution.

An evergreen that is quite variable in habit, ranging from a dense procumbent (ground-hugging) shrub to a tree up to 12 m (40 feet) tall. Leaves are needle-like, 5–13 mm (0.25–0.55 inches), borne in whorls of 3, bluish-white on the upper surface. Many plants carry two kinds of foliage at once: scale-like adult leaves and pointed juvenile leaves.

Flowers are insignificant, axillary, and dioecious, greenish-yellow, appearing late spring to early summer. They are followed by fleshy, 3-seeded berries, 7.5–10 mm (0.25–0.5 inches) in diameter, blue-black with a gray bloom when ripe. Bark is red-brown and papery.

Distribution: Native to the Mediterranean region, also found from Arctic Norway to Russia, the north-west Himalayas, and North America. Grows on heaths, moorland, open coniferous forests, and mountain slopes.

Cultivation: Moist soil in sun or partial shade. Tolerates both acid and alkaline conditions, dry and wet soils, and exposed positions — a hardy, adaptable plant. Propagate by seed sown under cover in spring or autumn.

Harvest: Fruits are collected by shaking branches over a ground sheet. Used fresh for oil, or dried for other uses. Worth knowing as a piece of tradition: in southern France, a tar known as "huile de cade" (Juniper Tar) is prepared from the interior reddish wood of the trunk and branches by a distillation process called per descensum.

Essential oil: 0.5%–2.0%, with more than 70 isolated components. Monoterpenes are the main components: 16.5–80% α- and β-pinene, 0.2–50% sabinene, 1–12% limonene, and up to 5% terpene-4-ol, α-terpineol, borneol, geraniol, and related compounds.

Sesquiterpenes: Including cadinenes, often present only in the tree form rather than the shrub form; phenols and esters are also present.

Variable composition: The qualitative and quantitative makeup of the essential oil depends heavily on the plant's origin and on the ripeness of the berries — for example, the 1,4-cineole sometimes mentioned in the literature is often absent depending on source.

Sugars and tannins: Up to about 30% invert sugar (glucose and fructose), 3–5% catechol tannins, plus flavones and leucoanthocyanidins.

Infusion (general use): Juniper berries are best used in the form of an infusion for everyday diuretic use.

Crushed-berry infusion (menses): 28 g (1 oz) crushed berries infused in 476 ml (1 pint) hot or boiling water, covered until cold, then strained. Dose 45 ml (3 tbsp) every 3–4 hours.

Combined decoction (broad diuretic support): Equal parts Juniper, Buchu, White Poplar bark, and Marshmallow root (14 g / ½ oz each), simmered 15 minutes in 952 ml (2 pints) water. Dose 45–60 ml (3–4 tbsp), 3–4 times daily.

Tincture: Used where the fresh or dried berries are not available. Combined with Gravel Root tincture and Ginger syrup for an "excellent diuretic mixture" — dose 5 ml (1 tsp), 4 times daily.

Infused oil: More stimulating than the berries. Dosed at 4–6 drops on a little sugar for backache and kidney troubles.

Pregnancy and kidney inflammation: Contraindicated in pregnancy and in inflammation of the kidneys.

Prolonged use or overdose: Kidney damage may result from prolonged use or from overdose. This is a stimulating, aromatic diuretic and is not intended for indefinite daily use without monitoring.

Kidney disease: To be avoided in glomerulonephritis, nephritis, and tubular necrosis of the kidneys.

Acute inflammation: Not well used alone in acute inflamed conditions of the kidneys or bladder — combine with a soothing agent such as Gravel Root (Eupatorium purpureum) in these cases (see Teaching Point above).