Hop

Jewel made entirely by hand by the Italian craftsman Gianmarco Fontana. 
This pendant made of 925 silver depicting a hop is part of the "Special" collection.

Hop: hand-modeled pendant in 925 silver as tradition dictates.

Perennial plant, with branched rhizome from which slender climbing stems extend that can reach 9 meters in height, it can live from 10 to 20 years.
The leaves are heart-shaped, petiolate, opposite, with 3-5 serrated lobes. The upper part is rough to the touch due to the presence of numerous hairs, the lower part is instead resinous.
Being a dioecious species, the male and female flowers, unisexual and greenish in color, are present on separate individuals. The male flowers (or staminiferous) are gathered in pendulous panicles and each has 5 tepals fused at the base and 5 stamens; the female flowers (or pistilliferi) have a membranous cone that surrounds an ovary equipped with 2 long hairy stigmas. They are grouped at the axils of leaf bracts, forming an inflorescence with a characteristic and unmistakable cone shape.
Flowering occurs in summer. Pollination is anemophilous (transport by wind) and in September-October, with the ripening of the seeds, the bracts take on a papery consistency which increases the size of the cone. The fruits are ash-gray achenes.
The female inflorescences are rich in resinous glands secreting a yellowish and bitter-tasting substance called lupulin, composed of α-acids (humulon, adumulone and coumulone), β-acids (lupulone, adlupulone and colupulone), polyphenols (eg phlobaphenes, xanthumol) and numerous essential oils, which are used to flavor and give the beer its characteristic taste.