What is Cannabis Flower?

Weed flower; Cannabis has gone by a lot of different nicknames over the years. Bud, nug, grass, weed, pot, ganja, reefer, herb, chronic are just a few of the most common slang terms that come to mind.

As the cannabis industry has evolved from an underground, illegal black market industry sold by sketchy dudes on street corners to a legitimately recognized form of natural, healing medicine, however, researchers and cannabis industry professionals have done a great job of breaking down the many unique aspects of the cannabis plant.

Here at 240 cannabis ahaub, we’re in the business of connecting medical cannabis patients with their medicine.

Cannabis Flower, Marijuana Flower

Part of that mission is making sure our readers understand the ins and outs of how their medicine works, how to use it properly, and provide a deeper understanding than the standard stoner fun facts.

Today, we’re going to focus on breaking down what exactly cannabis flower is, how and why it works the way it does, and how patients can utilize cannabis flower to live their healthiest lives!

Cannabis flower is the so-called “bud” or “nugs” that are typically ground up and smoked.

Huge portions of your local dispensary’s menu are likely devoted to different indica, Sativa, or hybrid forms of cannabis flower, so it’s pretty hard to miss.

Even the disposable vape pens full of THC-infused oil or the concentrates typically used in bad rigs are derived from cannabis flower. But what exactly is it?

Sativa vs. Indica vs. Hybrid Flower – Is There a Difference?

In the past, people differentiated between cannabis types by a) their growth pattern (sativas tall, large and taking up to 14 weeks to grow, indicas short, stout and taking up to 8 weeks to grow); and b) their effect (sativas more “up” and energetic, usually higher in THC and THCV; indicas more “down” and relaxing, with a high THC and CBD content). Hybrids are a mixture of indicas and sativas, taking growth and effect aspects from both.

However, these categories are rough distinctions at best, with many saying that the “sativa”, “indica” and “hybrid” labels are meaningless. This is because, when you test a plant for its chemical constitution, you will find that there are more similarities than differences between an indica and a sativa. The hybridization of cannabis strains has made indicas and sativas even more similar still.

What does seem to matter, however, is what environment the plant was grown in. A Blue Dream grown in California may be quite different from a Blue Dream grown in Colorado, despite having the same genetic base.

This is because the type of soil, amount of sunlight, humidity, altitude, and any other environmental factors can affect what cannabinoids and terpenes the plant produces. This can be seen when cannabis is in the wild, too.

For example, a Kush variety growing near some mountains in India will grow like a Sativa at low altitudes, but like an indica at higher altitudes.