LedZeppelin8906
Well-Known Member
Hey, how's it going rollitup, I hope everyone is having a blazed afternoon, it's about noon and i'm pretty bored, going to get ripped to write this thread. Biology is one of my passions, and I had the opportunity for two summers to work at a provincial park as a Park Naturalist. From there I studied all sorts of local flora, but obviously none of those is more interesting than the Cannabis plant, whether it be Cannabis indica, Cannabis sativa or Cannabis ruderalis. One of those most interesting things about Cannabis I find, is their evolved ability to produce Trichomes, here is some research on the trichome I find very interetsing, I hope you like it.
First, what is a trichome anyways?
Trichomes, from the Greek meaning "growth of hair", are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants and certain protists. They vary largely in structure and function. A few types are glabrous, hirsute and hispid
The trichomes of the Cannabis plant, come in 4 varieties (minus cystolithic hairs) and they are: Bulbous, Capitate-sessile, Capitate-stalked and Glandular Hairs. Each one unique and filled with THC-goodness
Bulbous:
The bulbous type is the smallest (15-30 micron). From one to four cells make up the foot and stalk, and one to four cells make up the head of the gland. Head cells secrete a resin - presumably cannabinoids, and related compounds which accumulate between the head cells and the cuticle. When the gland matures, a nipple-like protrusion may form on the membrane from the pressure of the accumulating resin. The bulbous glands are found scattered about the surfaces of the above-ground plant parts. Here is a picture of a Bulbous trichome...
Capitate-Sessile:
The second type of gland is much larger & is more numerous than the bulbous glands. They are called capitate, which means having a globular-shaped head. On immature plants, the heads lie flush, appearing not to have a stalk and are called capitate sessile. They actually have a stalk that is one cell high, although it may not be visible beneath the globular head. The head is composed of usually eight, but up to 16 cells, that form a convex rosette. These cells secrete cannabinoids, and related compounds which accumulate between the rosette and its outer membrane. This gives it a spherical shape. The gland measures from 25 to 100 micron across. Here is a picture of Capitate-sessile trichomes.. (there is a bulbous trichome in the middle of the picture aswell)
Capitate-Stalked:
Cannabinoids are most abundant in the capitate-stalked gland which consists of a tier of secretory disc cells subtending a large non-cellular secretory cavity. During flowering the capitate glands that appear on the newly formed plant parts take on a third form. Some of the glands are raised to a height of 150 to 500 micron when their stalks elongate. These capitate-stalked glands appear during flowering and form their densest cover on the female flower bracts. They are also highly concentrated on the small leaves that accompany the flowers. The male flowers have stalked glands on the sepals, but they are smaller and less concentrated than on the female bracts. Male flowers form a row of very large capitate glands along the opposite sides of anthers. Here's a picture of Capitate-stalked, notice the litte spheres on the top of the stalk, those things are chopped full of THC
Lastly, but certainly not least are the Glandular hairs, hairs are also a form of trichome; albeit much larger. Glandular hairs can be single-celled or multi-celled but the ones I'm talking about are the milky white hairs we see during flowering that turn to a nice amber color with time. The largest amounts of THC are produced in these, and they are layered in the other forms of trichomes. Needless to say the abundant growth of these hairs on your plant, would give anybody a hard on from THC overload
Here is a picture of a white widow plant from wikipedia, you can clearly see the Glandular hairs, and all sort of other types of trichomes layering the plant.
Anyways, thats a little lesson on our Good friend the Trichome, I hope you enjoye dit, or learned something new, Keep on tokin RIU
First, what is a trichome anyways?
Trichomes, from the Greek meaning "growth of hair", are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants and certain protists. They vary largely in structure and function. A few types are glabrous, hirsute and hispid
The trichomes of the Cannabis plant, come in 4 varieties (minus cystolithic hairs) and they are: Bulbous, Capitate-sessile, Capitate-stalked and Glandular Hairs. Each one unique and filled with THC-goodness
Bulbous:
The bulbous type is the smallest (15-30 micron). From one to four cells make up the foot and stalk, and one to four cells make up the head of the gland. Head cells secrete a resin - presumably cannabinoids, and related compounds which accumulate between the head cells and the cuticle. When the gland matures, a nipple-like protrusion may form on the membrane from the pressure of the accumulating resin. The bulbous glands are found scattered about the surfaces of the above-ground plant parts. Here is a picture of a Bulbous trichome...
Capitate-Sessile:
The second type of gland is much larger & is more numerous than the bulbous glands. They are called capitate, which means having a globular-shaped head. On immature plants, the heads lie flush, appearing not to have a stalk and are called capitate sessile. They actually have a stalk that is one cell high, although it may not be visible beneath the globular head. The head is composed of usually eight, but up to 16 cells, that form a convex rosette. These cells secrete cannabinoids, and related compounds which accumulate between the rosette and its outer membrane. This gives it a spherical shape. The gland measures from 25 to 100 micron across. Here is a picture of Capitate-sessile trichomes.. (there is a bulbous trichome in the middle of the picture aswell)
Capitate-Stalked:
Cannabinoids are most abundant in the capitate-stalked gland which consists of a tier of secretory disc cells subtending a large non-cellular secretory cavity. During flowering the capitate glands that appear on the newly formed plant parts take on a third form. Some of the glands are raised to a height of 150 to 500 micron when their stalks elongate. These capitate-stalked glands appear during flowering and form their densest cover on the female flower bracts. They are also highly concentrated on the small leaves that accompany the flowers. The male flowers have stalked glands on the sepals, but they are smaller and less concentrated than on the female bracts. Male flowers form a row of very large capitate glands along the opposite sides of anthers. Here's a picture of Capitate-stalked, notice the litte spheres on the top of the stalk, those things are chopped full of THC
Lastly, but certainly not least are the Glandular hairs, hairs are also a form of trichome; albeit much larger. Glandular hairs can be single-celled or multi-celled but the ones I'm talking about are the milky white hairs we see during flowering that turn to a nice amber color with time. The largest amounts of THC are produced in these, and they are layered in the other forms of trichomes. Needless to say the abundant growth of these hairs on your plant, would give anybody a hard on from THC overload
Here is a picture of a white widow plant from wikipedia, you can clearly see the Glandular hairs, and all sort of other types of trichomes layering the plant.
Anyways, thats a little lesson on our Good friend the Trichome, I hope you enjoye dit, or learned something new, Keep on tokin RIU
