Cannabis Pistils

Cannabis Pistils

Cannabis pistils are the female reproductive organs of the cannabis flower. In everyday cannabis language, the word is mostly used about the fine, hair-like strands that stick out of the flower, which are among the most recognizable features of a flowering plant.

More about Cannabis Pistils

Botanically, a pistil consists of three parts: the ovary, the style and the stigma. On cannabis, each pistil sits inside a small calyx, which is protected by the surrounding bracts. Only the stigmas are visible from the outside, usually two per calyx, and that is why the hairs are commonly called pistils even though they are technically only one part of the pistil.

Pistils are only found on female plants. Male plants instead develop pollen sacs, and when female flowers are not pollinated, they stay seedless, which is the idea behind the term sinsemilla. Early in the flowering stage the hairs are white or pale, and as the flower matures they shift to shades of orange, brown or red.

To get the full picture of the flower's anatomy, it is also worth reading about trichomes and sugar leaves, which sit close to the pistils.