This is a horrible, pest of an annual vine that just rapidly grows over everything and can get to 35 feet long in a season. It is such an invasive plant in the Midwest and Eastern USA; lots in southeast Pennsylvania. Its pollen causes allergies with many people. It is used medicinally in Asia, but I would be skeptical of that really being good. It was brought to the US in the middle or late 1800's as an ornamental, of course, with the great ignorance of early plant explorers not realizing it would be so invasive in America; a familiar pattern. The plant is covered with sticky little hairs and that makes it harder to remove by pulling out; wear gloves. It is a member of the Hemp Family where Hemp or Cannabis plants also have lots of sticky little hairs too. It is dioecious, having sort of pinkish-white male flowers in long clusters pointing up and female flowers hanging down in cone-shaped clusters. Seeds can remain 3 years dormant in the soil. The vines are not shade tolerant and need bare ground to germinate. It can not be used as a substitute for the Common Hops to flavor beer, having different chemicals. There is a cultivar with variegated leaves that I would certainly never grow.

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