Bulbs
Flower Basics
Flower Beds & Specialty Gardens
Flower Garden
Garden Furniture
Garden Gnomes
Garden Seeds
Garden Sheds
Garden Statues
Garden Tools & Supplies
Gardening Basics
Green & Organic
Groundcovers & Vines
Growing Annuals
Growing Basil
Growing Beans
Growing Berries
Growing Blueberries
Growing Cactus
Growing Corn
Growing Cotton
Growing Edibles
Growing Flowers
Growing Garlic
Growing Grapes
Growing Grass
Growing Herbs
Growing Jasmine
Growing Mint
Growing Mushrooms
Orchids
Growing Peanuts
Growing Perennials
Growing Plants
Growing Rosemary
Growing Roses
Growing Strawberries
Growing Sunflowers
Growing Thyme
Growing Tomatoes
Growing Tulips
Growing Vegetables
Herb Basics
Herb Garden
Indoor Growing
Landscaping Basics
Landscaping Patios
Landscaping Plants
Landscaping Shrubs
Landscaping Trees
Landscaping Walks & Pathways
Lawn Basics
Lawn Maintenance
Lawn Mowers
Lawn Ornaments
Lawn Planting
Lawn Tools
Outdoor Growing
Overall Landscape Planning
Pests, Weeds & Problems
Plant Basics
Rock Garden
Rose Garden
Shrubs
Soil
Specialty Gardens
Trees
Vegetable Garden
Yard Maintenance
How to Identify Cannabis Leaves
How to Identify Cannabis Leaves. The ability to identify cannabis leaves may enable you to distinguish marijuana growing in the soil. Cannabis sativa grows throughout many regions of the United States except for the hottest and coldest areas -- desert southwest and upper Great Plains regions. Learn the basic characteristics of marijuana plants to...
The ability to identify cannabis leaves may enable you to distinguish marijuana growing in the soil. Cannabis sativa grows throughout many regions of the United States except for the hottest and coldest areas -- desert southwest and upper Great Plains regions. Learn the basic characteristics of marijuana plants to identify the leaves and buds. According to the Virginia Tech Weed Identification Guide, marijuana plants may grow as tall as 10 feet.
Step 1
Identify a cannabis seedling. The first leaves -- called cotyledons -- lack the serrated edges and have an oval shape. The initial true leaves appear opposite the stems and they appear significantly different from the cotyledons because they have serrated edges and a thinner shape.
Step 2
Examine the stem of a cannabis plant. A cannabis stem appears fuzzy or hairy, and it may leak a sap that has a strong scent. The scent of the sap is the distinctive smell of fresh cannabis.
Step 3
Check the cannabis leaves. The upper leaves on a cannabis plant grow in an alternating pattern from the stems in a palmate pattern, meaning that they originate from the end of a leafstalk. The cannabis leaves will have between five and nine leaflets with serrated edges and fuzzy surfaces.
Step 4
Smell the cannabis plant, especially the leaves and flowers. A cannabis plant has a distinctive and strong scent that can help you positively identify it. Other plants may resemble the cannabis plant somewhat, but these plants will lack the same scent.
Step 5
Look for buds or flowers on the cannabis plant. Cannabis plants produce either male or female flowers -- not both on the same plant. Flowers on a cannabis plant grow from the stem near the point where leaves originate. Male flowers produce a bud with one stem in the middle and female flowers usually produce clusters of blooms.
