Wood: The wood is hard, heavy and yellowish-brown, with a satiny texture, but unimportant commercially because of the tree's small size. Hop tree juice was once used as a substitute for quinine to treat many ailments, and the bark was used for medicinal purposes.
Wildlife: The common hop tree is of limited value to wildlife: thickets provide nesting places for birds and bees are attracted to the flowers.
Horticulture: The low, spreading habit of this tree makes it ideal for use as a hedge plant and it is an interesting native plant for ornamental use in the eastern US. The cultivar 'Aurea' has attractive yellow new growth that fades to a lime green and 'Glauca' has striking blue-green leaves, both produce effective shrub borders.
