Cannabis Anatomy

Cannabis Anatomy explained at Weedys.com. Come join us for a short, yet compact look at the structural components that make up cannabis.

Physical Anatomy & Morphology

Inflorescence and Flowers

Female Cannabis plants tend to have inflorescence comprised of flower clusters that are large, dense, and covered in trichomes. Flowers (what our customers take home to combust or vape) are clusters of racemes, which are made up of perigonal bracts that are covered by trichomes and enclose stigmas, which are part of the pistil within the bract. A ‘cola’ is a large inflorescence at the end of a branch or main stem.

Racemes

Cannabis racemes commonly referred to as buds. They are a small cluster of non-branched female flowers, made up of stacked perigonal bracts, in a teardrop shape.

Trichome

tri·chome | ˈtri-ˌkōm , ˈtrī-

As cannabis flower consumers we are most interested in stalked, glandular trichomes. Specifically type I and IV. These tiny, mushroom head shaped glands not only give Cannabis its unique taste and smell (terpenes), but they are also where cannabinoids are produced. To the naked eye, trichomes look like tiny, glistening globed crystals. They cover perigonal bracts, unifoliate leaves extending from the flowers, and bracts at the stem nodes.

Stigma

stig·ma | ˈstig-mə

They are the two fuzzy, white, orange, yellow, or sometimes pink hairs that extend out from the perigonal bracts. Each bract encloses a pistil, and the two stigmas are part of the pistil. Commonly, the term pistil is misused when the term stigmas is intended.

Perigonal Bract

peri·go·ni·al bract pəˈrigən-ˈbraakt

Also known as “floral bract,” “pistillate bract,” or simply “bract,” and often mistermed as “calyx.” Bracts enclose a pistil, and a seed if the plants are pollinated. Looking closely at a Cannabis flower, you will see that perigonal bracts are small, triangle shaped pods. They will be covered by trichomes and have two stigmas protruding from them. The calyx is part of the peri- anth, enclosing the ovule, far from naked eye.

To be continued...

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