Why do hops have lupulin glands?

Dave, hopefully some BA with a botanical background will chime in and answer your question.

Do you know (have contact information for) Jason Perrault? He likely has an answer for you.

Below is a link to a presentation that Jason constructed and I read in the past. In that presentation he made mention of:

“The cones contain lupulin glands (actually modified vine hairs)”

I am unfamiliar with the purpose of “vine hairs” but I would suspect that is part of the answer here.

Cheers!

https://ag.purdue.edu/hla/Extension..._pdfs/Purdue Small Farms Intro 030316 JMP.pdf

P.S. I look forward to reading your article!!

 

Not pretending to be an expert, but potentially as an attractant or deterrent? Basically get something to take the pollinated cone or leave it alone.

 

I think the answer is obvious . . . it's because they identify as female.

 

Really neat question. Surprised that you haven't come across anything.

 

To produce lupulin and keep hopheads happy?

 

I am not a botanist, but in college I did pose as a chemical engineering major.

My hypotheses:

1) Deterrent from animals who would otherwise feed on the cones, and

2) It is sticky and thus might have an improved tendency to be spread around via paws and hooves.

And along with those, consistent with both: Perhaps the seeds are sensitive to digestive tracts such that consumption by animals renders the seeds infertile? That might be an ultimate hypothesis worthy of testing.

Otherwise could be one or both reasons above anyway. Or, it is entirely possible, and even likely, that all of my hypotheses are completely and utterly unsupported by the evidence. I'm just guessing.

 

I think alkaloids are generally addictive compounds for humans
So much for the detterence /avoidance theory
https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-an-alkaloid-definition-examples.html

 

Dammit, I was expecting a Dad Joke...

 

Cool. Maybe a drug for wandering animals then, through the millennia where they grew wild, before brewers domesticated them.

 

Don't know. Pollination and deterrent both seem plausible to me. The fact that they are in flowers points to generating or preserving seeds as good answers. It might be interesting to learn whether high alpha cones also have a tendency to resist certain kinds of predation. Hopyards probably have collected these types of observations. But if related to pollination/seed generation, the research may not be out there, given most commercial production tries like hell to avoid this scenario

 

They are on the same genus(cannabaceae) of cannabis. As in very female dependent on reproducing. Clone~rhizome? Maybe a heavy saturation of oils for collecting pollen are similar? Get a male plant near.....and, you know.

 

I think oil composition, i.e. terepene profile, has more to do with it than alpha acid content. It just so happens that more modern hops are both high alpha AND have the oil composition that makes them more resistant to disease and predatory organisms.

 

Actually, they are classified in the same family, but different genera.
Marijuana and Hemp are genus Cannabis. Hops are genus Humulus.

 

Sorry for the verbiage. Love this stuff...

I was thinking plain old bitterness plays a broad role as a deterrent among organisms that may not have high sensitivity to the myriad compounds found in hops. There are several compounds that make hops taste yucky (in the most scientific sense of the word), the alphas, betas, tannins. My use of alpha was meant as shorthand for pretty much everything that makes you want to spit out a hop cone or pellet. I don't know this for a fact and am kind of freestyling, but bitterness in plants may just arise like mimicry in other evolutionary scenarios -- some bad ass plants out there are bitter and highly toxic, so individuals of other species that tend to be bitter tend to be avoided, and, well, you know the rest.

But those myriad compounds also probably got selected for based on some pressure or other. Could be specific deterrents to types of organisms* that at one point in hop evolution (including today) were a strong threat. But I was also open to their serving as an attractant. *Insects come to mind -- what could drive the evolution of so many compounds in hop oils? Diversity can drive diversity, and insects are diverse.

 

Too bad most of our taxonomy predates genome study...just say'in

 

God help us if the genomics folks start messing with hops. Before you know it, there will be 20 genera of hops and homebrewers will have to learn more Latin in order to appear smart. SO MANY of the plants I learned during my dissertation research are now recognized as different genera. We won't be calling marijuana the "the cousin." It will become the uncle's estranged sister-in-law.

 

Taxonomy is very often updated based on genetics. In fact, I think the phylogeneticists have been all over the Cannabaceae family tree. To my knowledge, nobody has suggested a reshuffle to merge and Cannabis and Humulus.

 

Vikeman speaks the truth. Ever since we have been able to examine and sequence genomes, we have realized many of our taxonomy were wrong. Which has often raised as many questions as answered them.