Female plants produce flowers that become “weed” after being harvested and dried. These resin-secreting flowers result in round “buds” or “nuggets” used for smoking. (This is what you buy at marijuana dispensaries.) Female cannabis plants look generally lusher with more branching than males and feature large floral structures called colas.
Marijuana male flowers, often referred to as “bananas”, exist in small clusters of flowers shaped like bells, that hang down and release pollen to pollinate female flowers. Female flowers have calyxes in a tear-shape with two pistils – usually white but often colored as the plant matures – that group together forming what we call buds
Marijuana is a dioecious plant that evenly produces plants with male and female flowering parts. As a result, cannabis seeds are 50/50 male/female ratio. However, with the use of certain chemicals like STS, female plants can be made to produce male flowers that when self-pollinated or pollinated with other females, results in feminized cannabis seed, or female-only seed. Additionally, plants that produce both male and female flowers, called hermaphrodites, can result naturally in some cultivars but typically upon stress events. This usually happens when plants are stressed out from pests, pathogens, diseases, and harsh environmental factors. The degree of hermaphroditism depends on the cultivar and stress event.