What part of the cannabis plant do we consume?
We’re consuming the flower buds from female cannabis plants. The contain the highest concentration of trichomes, which produce cannabinoids and terpenoids. Although we refer to a flower bud as a singular object, each bud is a cluster of even smaller buds. In other words, the largest flower buds are composed of smaller flower buds clustered together.
Although male cannabis plants also produce flower buds, they contain very little THC, so we don’t consume it. In fact, male and female cannabis plants are cultivated separately to eliminate the risk of pollinating female flower and developing seeds.
Cannabis Flower Anatomy
Each flower bud is composed of three parts:
- Pistil. The red – orange stigmas (hair-like structure) growing out of the flower buds. Designed to catch pollen from male plants.
- Bract. Commonly referred to as the calyx, these are the teardrop shaped structures found at the base of the pistil.
- Sugar Leaves. Leaves that contain trichomes, which glisten like granulated sugar. Typically have 1-3 “fingers” compared to fan leaves, which have 7-9 fingers and don’t contain any trichomes.
- Pistils. Papaya orange and wispy.
- Calyxes. Graphite-violet and scale-shaped.
- Sugar Leaves. Light green with “burnt purple” on the edges.
- High calyx-leaf ratio. Higher proportion of calyx compared to the sugar leaves.
Using Anatomy to Assess Quality
Since cannabis flower grows in a pattern that is consistent for each cultivar, we can develop standards for visually grading flower quality. For example:
- Structure. The best flower is found at the top of each stem and is the terminal, or apical, cola. Since cannabis is an apical-dominant plant, it sends all its resources to the parts of the plant receiving the most light. The top of each stem contains the largest and most developed flower buds with the highest concentration of trichomes. As you move down the branch, the flower buds become smaller and less developed, with fewer trichomes.
- Trim. Skilled and experienced hand-trimmers can remove parts of the flower with less trichomes, while preserving the flower structure, making it easy to identify each part of the flower. Machine-trimmed flower looks shaved down and unnaturally smooth. All top-shelf flower is hand-trimmed, which is much more expensive compared to machine trimming.
- Consistency. Top-shelf flower is consistent; since each bud was grown to its genetic potential, they should look very similar. This is easy to see with purple cultivars, since all flower buds should be purple. If your eighth looks like a “variety-pack” of buds, it is not top-shelf.
Live Cured Flower
At Curated Cannabis, our sole collective focus is preserving true-to-form cannabis flower. Cannabis is an incredibly diverse plant, yet all cultivars share the same basic structure, so the details matter. Our flower is hand-trimmed, hand-sorted, and hand-packaged. We guarantee and specify the number of buds in each eighth. We package our flower in removable sleeves, so you can see the flower before you buy it. We know we’ve done our job if we make it harder for you to choose between our eighths.
