Cannabis sativa - Plant physiology

Cannabis sativa, also known as hemp, is a species of Cannabis. It is a dioecious, annual herb. It has been used by humans throughout recorded history for its fiber, for its psychological and physiological potential as a source of drug material, and for the nourishment and oil of its seeds. Different parts of the herb have different uses and different varieties are cultivated in different ways, and harvested at different times, depending on the purpose for which the herb is grown. Cannabis sativa - Co ...

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• Cannabis sativa - Common uses
• Cannabis sativa - Plant physiology
• Cannabis sativa - Pharmacology

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Cannabis reproduces sexually. The flowers of the female plant, in cannabis usually called buds, are arranged in racemes and can produce hundreds of seeds. Males reach sexual maturity several weeks prior to females. Although genetics disposes a plant to become male, environmental factors, including the diurnal light cycle, can alter the sex. Natural hermaphrodites, with both male and female parts, are either sterile or fertile but artificially induced hermaphrodites can have fully functional reproductive organs. 'Feminized' seed sold b ...

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Cannabis sativa, Cannabis sativa - Common uses, Cannabis sativa - Plant physiology, Cannabis sativa - Pharmacology

Read more here: » Cannabis sativa: Encyclopedia II - Cannabis sativa - Plant physiology

The tough fiber of the plant, cultivated as hemp, has numerous textile uses. Its seed, chiefly used as caged-bird feed, is a valuable source of protein, energy, and long-chain fatty acids, and also contain oil that can be used to make paints, varnishes and soaps. Most concentrated in the resin of female plant are psychoactive and physiologically active chemical compounds known as cannabinoids that are consumed for recreational, medicinal, and spiritual purposes. When so used, preparations of flowers and leaves, sometimes called mar ...

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Cannabis sativa, Cannabis sativa - Common uses, Cannabis sativa - Plant physiology, Cannabis sativa - Pharmacology

Read more here: » Cannabis sativa: Encyclopedia II - Cannabis sativa - Common uses

Though the main psychoactive chemical compound in cannabis is Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the plant is known to contain about sixty cannabinoids. One other cannabinoid of particularly high concentration in some plants is cannabidiol (CBD), which is not psychoactive but modifies the effect of THC. Differences in the chemical composition of cannabis varieties may produce different effects in humans. Synthetic THC, called dronabinol, does not contain CBD, CBN, or other cannabinoids, which is one reason why its pharmacological effects may differ si ...

See also:

Cannabis sativa, Cannabis sativa - Common uses, Cannabis sativa - Plant physiology, Cannabis sativa - Pharmacology

Read more here: » Cannabis sativa: Encyclopedia II - Cannabis sativa - Pharmacology