By Luke Sumpter


You’ve handled your fair share of cannabis flowers. Whether you’ve watched these tissues form during the flowering stage during a grow, or have only ever handled them before a smoking session, you’ll know a thing or two about them. They smell, they’re sticky, and they have a frosty coating and weird little hairs.

Past these superficial characteristics, cannabis buds are highly complex. They manufacture and store most of the phytochemicals that make cannabis so valuable, including cannabinoids and terpenes. Plus, they feature myriad anatomical components that are difficult to distinguish with the naked eye.

Where Are Bud Sites On Cannabis Plants

If you grow cannabis, you’ll know exactly where bud sites are located on cannabis plants. Colas, otherwise known as terminal buds, form at the end of branches. In untrained and untopped plants, a large central cola forms at the top of the Christmas tree-like structure. This vertical stack of buds can vary greatly in size depending on the genetics of a plant and how it responds to its environment.

Plants also produce many other smaller buds, often called popcorn buds because of their shape. These buds form at the nodes—the point at which petioles (branches) join at the main stem.

The Different Parts of a Cannabis Bud

Cannabis buds are often incorrectly labelled as cannabis flowers. Rather, they are inflorescences—the complete flowering head made up of stems, stalks, bracts, and flowers.

The true flowers of cannabis[1] are known as pistils. In botany, this term describes the reproductive structures designed to support the pollination process. Cannabis pistillate flowers[2] are composed of two stigmas, a style, and an ovule protected by trichome-coated bracts. A cluster of pistillate flowers makes up what most growers know as a bud.

Below, we’re going to cover the anatomy of pistillate flowers and buds. We’ll cover all of the important areas, starting from the smallest and working our way up to the largest.

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  • Calyx

Many cannabis growers often mistake bracts with calyxes. However, cannabis flowers don’t have a distinct calyx. But they do have calyx cells that are found within the perianth, a translucent piece of tissue that partly envelopes the ovule—the site where future seeds develop.

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  • Trichomes

Trichomes are glands that give cannabis buds their frosty appearance. They don’t look like much to the naked eye. However, up close, these glands take on several different forms. These include:

  • Bulbous trichomes: These are small and round
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  • Capitate-sessile trichomes: These feature a large globular head on a short stalk
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  • Capitate-stalked trichomes: This type feature a larger head on a longer stalk
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Of the three, capitate-stalked trichomes are the main producers of desirable secondary metabolites, such as terpenes and cannabinoids. They produce these compounds in secretory discs and store them in subcuticular cavities. Trichomes produce these compounds for several reasons, including protecting plants from insects and UV rays.

  • Stigma

Mainstream cannabis culture has created some confusion when it comes to the stigma of cannabis plants. Each individual pistillate flower produces two stigmas that protrude up and outwards into the open air.

Growers often label these hair-like structures as pistils. Rather, they are components of pistils, but not pistils themselves. Stigmas are covered in tiny hairs known as papillae that help to catch male pollen from the air. When successful, pollen becomes lodged into the side of a female stigma and transfers genetic material that leads to fertilisation. During the flowering stage, stigmas emerge as white and gradually develop an orange/brown colour.

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  • Bract

Bracts are essentially specialist leaves that are designed to protect the pistil components that they envelop. These fragile structures include the ovule, style, and bottom section of the stigmas. Because bracts protect such precious structures, they are equipped with the highest concentration of trichomes found anywhere on a cannabis bud. Overall, bracts form the main tissue component of manicured nugs.

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  • Pistils

Unless you have a penchant for botany, you probably assign the label “pistils” to the small hairy protrusions found on cannabis flowers. However, this common misconception confuses stigmas with the entire pistil. Stigmas only make up part of this reproductive structure, alongside the style and the ovule.

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  • Sugar Leaves

Sugar leaves are small leaves found among cannabis inflorescence. Although much smaller than the larger fan leaves found elsewhere on the plant, they play an important role. As photosynthetic structures, they are able to create vital sugars right where they are needed—close to the buds.

They’re also platforms for trichomes, and therefore offer protection against pests, predators, and abiotic stress. Growers remove sugar leaves after harvesting either before or after drying. Although they lack the dense trichome counts of bracts, many cultivators keep them to make products such as hash.

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  • Colas

Colas are the buds that form specifically at the end of branches. For this reason, they are also known as terminal buds. Colas are the largest clusters of pistillate flowers anywhere on the plant. When left untrained and untopped, cannabis plants develop large column-like central colas that can weigh impressively heavy.

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Females vs Male Cannabis Buds

As a dioecious species, cannabis has distinct male and female plants. Whereas the females develop pistillate flowers that feature two stigmas within a bract, male flowers are made up of the following components:

  • Stamen: The pollen-producing part of a flower
  • Anthers: The part of the stamen that produces pollen
  • Filaments: A structure that supports the anthers
  • Sepals: Tissue within which the stamens develops
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Early in the flowering stage, male cannabis flowers have a sac-like appearance. Eventually, the sepals open up and the anthers start to release pollen to fertilise female flowers.

Sativa vs Indica Cannabis Buds

Much like with certain aspects of cannabis botany, much confusion revolves around the sativa and indica dichotomy. Over the years, companies have perpetuated the idea that sativa and indica varieties exert specific effects. Because of this, sativa plants are associated with an energising effect and indica with a stoning high.

In reality, things are much more complex than this. Although THC creates the core effects of each cultivar, an array of aromatic terpenes underpin the varying effects. For example, a sativa plant may produce mainly energising terpenes, but it needn’t always be like this.

With that said, indica and sativa subtypes of cannabis do differ in their morphology. Sativa cultivars are taller and have thin leaflets on their fan leaves; indica plants are shorter and display wider leaflets. Adding to these differences, indica subtypes normally produce smaller buds that are more compact, whereas sativa flowers are typically larger and more fluffy.

Dense Buds vs Airy Buds

Several factors determine flower density. As we have just discussed, genetics play a big role. However, bud density can also indicate the quality of cannabis flowers in some circumstances.

Flowers are more likely to develop as dense nuggets loaded with cannabinoids if they are treated to optimal lighting, nutrition, temperature, and humidity. Likewise, a lack of these factors can lead to poor-quality airy flowers with reduced secondary metabolites.

Cannabis Bud Colours: What Do They Mean?

You’ll come across several different colours when looking at cannabis buds. Some of these are genetic, whereas others are environmental. These include:

  • Green: Most cannabis buds are green because of their chlorophyll content.
  • Purple: Some cannabis buds turn purple because of the presence of anthocyanin, a flavonoid pigment.
  • White: Cannabis flowers can sometimes appear white due to young stigmas and high trichome density.
  • Orange: As stigmas mature, they start to display striking shades of red and green.
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Seeds Forming On Buds

Seeds forming on buds is a sight that most growers try to avoid. Why? Because, unless they’re trying to intentionally breed plants, seeds ruin the quality of cannabis flowers. After fertilisation, the ovule within the bract begins to swell into a seed. This causes plants to divert their resources towards reproduction, and to spend less energy on forming large flowers packed with valuable secondary metabolites.

Weed Buds: A Deeper Look At The Nomenclature

Congratulations. You now have a much better understanding of the anatomy of cannabis buds. No longer will you see a singular object every time you lay eyes on a cola. Instead, you’ll notice individual pistillate flowers, plenty of stigmas, countless trichomes, protective bracts, and energy-producing sugar leaves.

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Privacy Policy - Royal Queen Seeds

To ensure a safe online environment and guarantee adequate data protection, we strictly comply with all legal requirements. In this privacy statement, we provide information about how and for what purpose data is collected, safety measures, storage periods and contact details.


COMPANY NAME: SNORKEL SPAIN, SL (hereinafter ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS)

C/ Vilar d'Abdelà, 5 (nave 1) CP: 08170 de Montornès del Vallès

+34 937 379 846

support@royalqueenseeds.com


The present Privacy Policy sets out the terms on which we will treat personal data at ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS; this includes any personal data collected through our website https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/ as well as any other data we process in the course of our business activities.

ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS collects the following personal data for the purposes listed below:

SECTION 1 – PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

1.1 Account purchases

Account purchases can only be made if you are in possession of a personal account. When you create an account or purchase something from our shop, as part of the buying and selling process we collect the following personal information that you provide to us:

This information is required for delivery. In addition, when you browse our shop, we automatically receive the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your computer. Based on this information, we can optimise your online experience and at the same time protect our online environment.

Purpose of data collection

We collect and store account-related data for the following purposes:

(a) to carry out obligations arising from any contracts between you and us, and to provide you with information, products and services that you may request from us;

(b) to set up, manage and communicate with you about your account and your orders;

(c) to conduct market research and analysis;

(d) to confirm your age and identity, and to detect and prevent fraud.

1.2 Newsletters

With your explicit permission, we may send you newsletters about our shop, new products and other updates. We send newsletters based on your explicit consent. In the event that you purchase a product, and in accordance with current regulations, we may send you commercial communications in accordance with the legitimate interest of our company, always about products or services similar to those you have purchased or contracted. In any case, you may exercise your right of opposition through the channels announced in this Privacy Policy. The following information is collected in relation to the newsletter:

We do not need to know the sex of the person in order to send the newsletter (data minimisation: by law we must ask for data that is strictly necessary to provide the service, and in this case knowing the sex is not necessary to send the newsletter).

Purpose of data collection

The data collected is used to:

(a) personalise our emails, including your name and gender;

(b) provide gender-specific content.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by using the link provided in the newsletter or the contact information provided in section 2.

1.3 Customer service and contact form

In order to provide appropriate support, our customer service employees have access to information related to the account. Consequently, their support will be highly effective and friendly. The data provided in our contact form is used by our CRM provider, SuperOffice. We will only use your details to respond to your message.

SECTION 2 – LEGITIMATE INTEREST

If you have purchased any of our products, please note that we may process your personal data for promotional purposes, based on Royal Queen Seeds' legitimate interest only to offer you products or services from our company and about products or services similar to those you have purchased. You may exercise your right to opt out of future messages by the means set out in this Privacy Policy or through any notification you receive.

2.1 How do you withdraw consent?

If you change your mind, you can withdraw your consent for us to contact you for the purpose of collecting, using, or disclosing your data at any time by reaching out to us at: support@royalqueenseeds.com.

SECTION 3 – DISCLOSURE

We may disclose your personal information if we are required to do so by law or if you breach our Terms of Service.

SECTION 4 – HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR DATA?

At Royal Queen Seeds, we will not retain your data for longer than is necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. Different retention periods apply for different types of data; however, the longest period we will normally hold any personal data is 10 years.

4.1 Account information

Data relating to the account remains relevant for as long as the consumer is in possession of an account. Therefore, the data remains documented for as long as the account exists. When our customers delete an account, the associated data will be deleted within a reasonable period of time. Requests regarding the inspection or correction of stored personal data or the deletion of an account can be sent to support@royalqueenseeds.com.

4.2 Newsletters

In the event that you give us your consent to inform you about our products or services, we will keep your data until you express your wish not to receive any further communications from us. However, we regularly (every month) carry out a relevance check. Registered customers (and their personal information) will be deleted whenever customers do not reply to our request. In addition, our newsletter mailing has an opt-out feature. Consumers can withdraw their consent by using this opt-out feature.

SECTION 5 – COOKIES

Cookies are small information files that notify your computer of previous interactions with our website. These cookies are stored on your hard drive, not on our website. Essentially, when you use our website, your computer displays its cookies to us, informing our site that you have visited before. This allows our website to function more quickly and remember aspects related to your previous visits (such as your username), making your experience more convenient. At Royal Queen Seeds, we use two types of cookies: functional and analytical.

5.1 Functional Cookies

Functional cookies are used to enhance your online experience. Among other things, these cookies track what is added to your shopping cart. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

5.2 Analytical Cookies

Analytical cookies are used for research and market analysis. The data collected with these analytical cookies is anonymous, making it unusable for third parties. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

SECTION 5 – THIRD-PARTY SERVICES

Third-party services are required to conduct transactions and provide our services. In general, the third-party providers we use will only collect, use and disclose your information to the extent necessary to enable them to perform the services they provide to us.

However, certain third-party service providers, such as payment gateways and other payment transaction processors, have their own privacy policies regarding the information we must provide to them for your transactions.

We encourage you to read the privacy policies of these providers so that you can understand how these providers will handle your personal information.

In particular, certain suppliers may be located or have facilities located in a different jurisdiction than yours or ours. Therefore, if you choose to proceed with a transaction involving the services of a third party, your information may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which that service provider or its facilities are located.

Once you leave our website or are redirected to a third-party website or application, you are no longer governed by this Privacy Policy or the Terms of Service of our website.

Web analytics service (anonymous data)

On this website we have integrated an element of a web analytics service (with anonymisation functionality). Web analytics can be defined as the gathering, processing and analysis of data about the behaviour of visitors to websites. An analytics service collects, among other things, data about which website a person came from (the so-called referrer), which sub-pages they visited or how often and for how long they visited a sub-page. Web analytics is mainly used for website optimisation and for a cost–benefit analysis of internet advertising.

Courier service

To complete deliveries we use a courier service. This courier service carries out the delivery between our company and the consumer's home. To complete these logistics, the company requires access to the consumer's name and address information.

Mailing service

Royal Queen Seeds uses a third-party mail service provider to send its newsletter. This provider has access to limited account information related to opt-in consent (e.g. email address).

Marketing services

Royal Queen Seeds has the support of a company that specialises in marketing and communication activities. Their access to personal information is very limited and mostly anonymous.

Payment services

At Royal Queen Seeds we use external payment services to handle our transactions (e.g. credit card payments).

SECTION 6 – SECURITY

To protect your personal information, we take reasonable precautions and follow industry standard best practices to ensure that it is not inappropriately lost, misused, accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed.

If you provide us with your credit card information, the information is encrypted using secure socket layer technology (SSL) and stored using AES-256 encryption. Although no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, we follow all PCI-DSS requirements and implement additional industry standards that are commonly accepted. Information related to the account is protected with a hashing method. This method transforms the information into a generated hash. As a result, confidential information is protected and invisible, even to us. In addition, our databases are exceptionally protected against unauthorised access. For example, access to the database is only possible and permitted via approved IP addresses (e.g. from Royal Queen Seeds headquarters). Other attempts and addresses are rejected at all times.

Furthermore, data is anonymised as much as possible, so it cannot be directly linked to a specific consumer. With this data, however, we may be able to carry out market research and analysis. In addition, the third parties concerned (e.g. mailing service) are examined prior to our collaboration, comply with the GDPR from the EU and receive a processing agreement. Within Royal Queen Seeds, employees are assigned different access permissions. Specific permission provides access only to information that is strictly required to perform a task. Digital security measures are subject to change and must meet high requirements to ensure the safety of online customers. That is why, at Royal Queen Seeds, we appoint a security officer. Regular verification and improvement of security measures (where necessary) are part of the role.

SECTION 7 – CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so please check back regularly. Changes and clarifications will be effective immediately upon being published on the Website. If we make substantial changes to this policy, we will notify you here that it has been updated so you will know what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances, if any, we use and/or disclose it.

SECTION 8 – YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO: