styles are often 3-branched. The perianth is transparent, smooth or slightly fringed
along the margin, at maturity covers about two-thirds of the ovary. The bracts
(Fig.5.2a–d) are green, scabrous, with overlapping edges, enclosing the female
flower except the exserted stigmas, acuminate at apex. The fruit is an achene, ovoid,
ellipsoid or subglobose, about 4–6 mm long and 3–4 mm in diameter, smooth,
somewhat compressed, brownish grey and mottled, containing a single seed with a
hard shell (Fig.5.1f). Sometimes, theCannabis“seed”of commerce is actually the
fruit still enclosed in its hoodedfloral bract (Hayward 1938 ; UNODC 2009 ).
Male and femaleflowers occur in separate plants; they generally bloom during
July-August. Male plants are usually taller and the female plants are usually more
robust than male plants. Several cultivars with varying features occur in cultivation.
Morphological characteristics ofCannabisplants are influenced by the seed strain
as well as by environmental factors such as soil type, light, water, nutrients and
space (UNODC 2009 ).
5.3 Trichomes
The trichomes ofCannabishave been well studied in the past. Briosi and Tognini
( 1894 ) published one of the earliest works that provided detailed descriptions and
illustrations ofCannabistrichomes. Most of the earlier workers, however, descri-
bed only some aspects of mature trichomes, except Ram and Nath ( 1964 ), who
studied the ontogeny of the trichomes. Several papers published onCannabisin the
1960s and 1970s included characterization of trichomes using light or scanning
electron microscopes and were primarily aimed to aid in the forensic identification
of illicitCannabis products (Dayanandan and Kaufman 1976 ; Hammond and
Mahlberg 1973 ; 1977 ; Ledbetter and Krikorian 1975 ; Mitosinka et al. 1972 ;
Nakamura 1969 ; Shimomura et al. 1967 ; Thornton and Nakamura 1972 ; Turner
et al. 1977 ).
Almost all aerial parts of theCannabisplants are covered with trichomes. Two
major types of trichomes are present inC. sativa: (A) glandular trichomes and
(B) non-glandular trichomes.
5.3.1 Glandular Trichomes
Glandular trichomes are the primary structures for synthesis and storage of
cannabinoids in C. sativa. Three types of glandular trichomes, namely
capitate-stalked, capitate-sessile and bulbous, are present inCannabis(Hammond
and Mahlberg 1973 , 1977 ).
- Capitate-stalked glandular trichome (Fig.5.3a–e): This type of trichomes
posses a large globular head generally measuring 50– 70 μm in diameter and a
5 Morpho-Anatomy of Marijuana (Cannabis sativaL.) 127