Expansion of female sex organs in response to prolonged virginity in Cannabis sativa (marijuana)

Cannabis: A Treasure Trove or Pandora's Box?

“…Still, the human selection of narcotic cannabis strains apparently favored greater gland density and/or size [2,135]. This latter has been confirmed by the presence of extremely large gland heads in recently selected strains with extremely high Δ 9 -THC level [139]. To influence gland density by preventing seed/fruit development is now a standard practice during the production of marijuana [139].…”

“…Interestingly, glands are restricted to the abaxial side of young leaves, to twigs and most prominently to the outer (abaxial) side of the perigonal bracts, while the inner (adaxial) surface of bracts is devoid of glands and contains only occasionally non-glandular trichomes [2,135]. This specific distribution of glands may suggest their protective role of the young flowers and developing fruits similarly to Humulus [139]. The reproductive shoots of male plants also contain relatively high concentrations of phytocannabinoids [141], and also have lower densities of glandular trichomes [97,137].…”

“…The heads of both capitate glands have similar structure, but the diameter of capitate-stalked glands is frequently larger than that of capitate-sessile glands [136]. Recently, it has been shown that the average diameter of capitate-stalked glands of a high-Δ 9 -THC containing medical cannabis strain is 129 µm while that of fiber-type, low-Δ 9 -THC industrial hemp is 80 µm, and the mean resin volume of the former was more than four times larger than that of the latter [139].…”

“…Bear claw-shaped cystolithic trichomes also occur on younger stems, but can be only occasionally observed on perigonal bracts, especially on drug-type plants (Fig. 3A) [139]. Identification can be further assisted by the presence of the specific glandular trichomes discussed below.…”

Pollen Appearance and In Vitro Germination Varies for Five Strains of Female Hemp Masculinized Using Silver Thiosulfate

“…Monoecious plants, which have both male and female flowers, occur occasionally in hemp, and cultivars have been selected for use in the production of industrial hemp fiber and grain. Male and monoecious plants are problematic for CBD production because of their pollen, which is produced in copious quantities because hemp is a wind-pollinated species (Small and Naraine, 2016). A single male hemp flower can produce hundreds of thousands of pollen grains (Faegri et al, 1989), and hemp pollen can travel long distances by wind (Clarke, 1977).…”