From the Ground Up

What do flowers, colas, and fans have in common?

They’re all part of the cannabis plant, of course. While most people recognize this plant by it’s characteristic finger-like leaves, there’s so much more to it than just these leaves. While there are an innumerable number of different cannabis cultivars each with their own appearance, smell, and effects, they all have the same building blocks that make them part of the same family.

While cannabis plants have many parts that are present in most other plants as well, there are some important portions that are specific to cannabis that enable it to be used by humans in the way(s) that it is. Read on for an in-depth look at the plant we all love, how it grows, and what parts we use for medicine, pleasure, and manufacturing.

Ok, one more thing. Before diving in it’s important to understand a few things about the cannabis plant to make sure everything is clear below.

Cannabis Sativa is the species of all cannabis plants referenced here. Although its species name contains the word sativa, it’s important to know that the species Cannabis Sativa has three general subspecies: Sativa, Indica, and Ruderalis. Sativa and Indica are generally the ones grown for consumption, so we’ll focus on these here (and will go more in-depth on what this means another time). Ruderalis is lower in THC content and is not very suited for industrial use either, so is rarely cultivated.
Cannabis Sativa is a dioecious plant, meaning that there are male and female plants that exist separately of each other. Most other plants are monoecious, with both male and female reproductive parts on the same plant. For our purposes here, we’ll be covering the female cannabis plant, as that is the type that is used for cultivation for consumption.

Now, onto the main event…

Seeds

As if we could really start anywhere else. It’s important to start where it all begins. Like any other plant, the cannabis seed contains all of the genetic information necessary for a plant to grow. This information controls everything from the color of the plant, the shape, size, and density of flowers and leaves, and what chemical characteristics it will display (this is especially important given the different effects that each cannabis strain can produce).

Although clearly necessary for the natural lifecycle of a plant, seeds are actually an undesirable portion of the cannabis plant for a few reasons:

Weight. The main reason that consumers don’t like seeds in their flower is that they themselves are not psychoactive/consumable. If a particular harvest is full of seeds then the end product will have a higher seed weight to it, which offers nothing to the end consumer making the purchase less cost-effective.
Harsh smoke. Aside from diluting the value of a cannabis purchase due to weight, the seeds provide a sub-par smoking experience as well. When consumed in this fashion, the seeds can lead to harsh smoke and an overall unpleasant experience.
Lower potency. When a female plant is fertilized by a male and begins the process of producing seeds, this takes energy. Because energy is being used for this purpose, there is less to be used in the formation of psychoactive cannabinoids, leading to a lower potency plant that is less desired by cultivators, sellers, and consumers. We here at Pinstripes love low potency, though, so this isn’t always a bad thing.

Roots

Not too much to be said here, really. The roots of a cannabis plant do what roots of every other plant do. They anchor it to the ground, provide the plant with water and nutrients from the soil, and help control the plant’s growth via hormones.

Stem

The stem of the cannabis plant is also pretty self-explanatory. It’s the tall, central body of the cannabis plant. Not only does it hold the entire plant upright, but the stem also acts as the plant’s vascular system, carrying vital nutrients to all other parts of the plant. This task is accomplished via two different types of tissue; the xylem and phloem.

The Xylem is responsible for carrying water and nutrients that the roots have absorbed from the soil throughout the plant. The rigid nature of this tissue has a dual purpose that also makes it responsible for the stem’s structural integrity. Interestingly enough, the word xylem comes from “xylon”, an Ancient Greek work for wood.

The Phloem is responsible for transporting sugars, amino acids, and proteins that are synthesized in the leaves to other parts of the plant where they are needed.

Something to note here is that the stems of cannabis plants look different depending on their subspecies. In indica dominant plants, the stem is woody, thick, and short. For sativa, we see the inverse, with tall, thin, fibrous stems.

Regardless of the subspecies, the cannabis stem actually has a use aside from the plant specific one. If you’ve ever worn anything made of hemp fabric, or used a container made of hemp plastic, you’ve utilized the cannabis stem. Cannabis fabrics are generally made from the refined portions of the outer stem. Conversely, hemp plastics are made from the inner portions of the stem, which are rich in cellulose and ideal as a base material for further refining.

Nodes and Branches

All the way up the stem of the cannabis plant are sites called nodes. These nodes are where the long, thin branches of the cannabis plant (or any plant, really) connect to the stem. Although all cannabis plants have nodes, the spacing of them varies depending on the genetics of the specific plant in question. Indica dominant plants have nodes that are closer to each other, while sativa dominant plants have nodes further apart.

Off the nodes are the branches, which hold the leaves and, eventually, flowers that the cannabis plant is known for. Just like the stem, the branches have xylem and phloem to facilitate the transfer of water and nutrients throughout the plant.

Fan Leaves

If there’s one image that comes to mind when someone mentions cannabis, it’s almost always going to be that of the characteristic fan leaf. Regardless of one’s cannabis use, knowledge, or exposure this leaf is instantly recognizable. From fully legal societies to ones with draconian penalties for simple possession, the cannabis leaf is a universally recognized symbol.

The fan leaf, of course, is one that reaches outward in multiple serrated “leaflets”, “fingers”, or “fans”. Whatever you call them (we’ll call them fans from here on out), most cannabis plants have somewhere between 5 and 13 fans per leaf, however most often it’s between 5 and 9. These fans are almost always arranged in an odd number, with the longest “apex” fan marking the center of the leaf.

The leaf functions as a source of food for the plant by converting energy from sunlight into sugars, proteins, amino acids, and other nutrients. Once these nutrients are created they’re stored into the leaves until they’re needed elsewhere in the plant, at which point the phloem does its job by moving them to where they need to be.

Just like with many of the other parts of the cannabis plant, the appearance of the leaves is highly dependent on whether the plant is indica or sativa dominant. If you have no other information except for the leaves, you would most likely be able to guess the subspecies with relative accuracy based on the appearance of the leaves alone.

Indica fan leaves are generally darker in color, broad and short in stature, and have generally 5-7 individual fans.
Sativa fan leaves are usually a brighter green, are narrow and long, and have anywhere from 7-13 individual fans.

Flower

Finally, we’ve made it to the reason we’re all here in the first place. The cannabis flower, or bud as it’s also known. The part of the plant that’s responsible for the prolific nature of cannabis. The part of the plant that gets us where we need to be. The flower is where the majority of the cannabinoids and psychoactive chemicals in the plant reside, and is therefore the prized portion of the plant for cultivators.

Like any other plant, cannabis grows flowers when mature and ready to reproduce. As we mentioned above, only female plants are cultivated for consumption. The reason for that is that female plants are the only ones that flower, while male plants only have pollen sacs called stamen. The cannabis flower, then, has the function of capturing and collecting pollen from the male plants to begin seed production. For cultivated cannabis, though, there are ideally no male plants to fertilize the flower, which results in the plant’s energy being directed toward growing fuller, more potent flowers.

While we’re referring to the flower in a collective sense here, the flower is actually made of a few different parts.

Bracts are the main reproductive portion of the plant. They form at the base of the flower. The bracts have the highest concentration of cannabinoids in the flower and are therefore extremely important to cultivators. If pollinated, they act as an incubator for the seed until it is ready to drop, which explains why cultivators want to prevent pollination at all costs.
Pistils and Stigmas aid the cannabis flower in collecting pollen. Pistils emerge from the bracts, and from them emerge the stigmas. The stigmas are what you might notice as orange strands or hairs on a dried bud.
Trichomes is the frosty coating mainly found on the flower and sugar leaves. At the most basic level, trichomes are resin glands. These glands create and store the compounds cannabis is known for: cannabinoids and terpenes. We’ll take a deeper dive on trichomes in another article, so for now just know that these are the star of the cannabis show and give cannabis flower its allure.
Sugar Leaves are small, trichome frosted leaves that grow from the cannabis leaves. Like fan leaves, these photosynthesize sunlight into plant nutrients. Unlike fan leaves, these have a higher cannabinoid content and are much smaller and thinner.

At the top of a cannabis plant, you will often see a large cluster of flowers forming what is referred to as a cola. This cola is nothing more than a large group of flowers, but can be many inches long and have significant weight to it. This is generally the largest and most prized part of the plant.

In Closing

Thanks for taking this journey up the cannabis plant with us. In our day-to-day lives it can be easy to take what we have for granted without stopping to think about the intricacies of how something beautiful comes to be. Next time you’re puffing on a joint or waiting for an edible to hit, take a step back to think about how much power one little seed can have, and the symphony of nature that comes together to create the beautiful, powerful, wonderful flower that we all know and love.

Cannatomy