Family: Cannabaceae — cannabis and hop family

The Cannabaceae consists of erect herbs, climbing vines, shrubs, and trees. Leaves are arranged either alternate or opposite. The leaves are simple and unlobed, palmately lobed, or palmately divided. In some species, a stipule grows at the base of each leaf and persists through the growing season. The inflorescence is a branched array of flowers that grows from the point where the leaf attaches to the stem. Flowers are usually unisexual (they have either pollen-bearing or ovule-bearing parts, but usually not both). The flowers are small, actinomorphic (radially symmetrical) and typically 5-parted. There are no petals. In the ovule-bearing flowers, the 5 sepals are fused together and attach to the flower below the ovary (i.e., the ovary is superior). In some genera, the fruit is subtended by a bract that, in some species, is large enough to conceal the flowers and fruits (such as "hops"). The fruit is an achene or a drupe.

This family’s genera in New England

• Cannabis
• Celtis
• Humulus

Visit this family in the Dichotomous Key

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