Cannabis L., Sp. Pl. 2: 1027. 1753; Gen. Pl. ed. 5: 453. 1754; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 5: 487. 1890; Benth. & Hook. f., Gen. Pl. 344. 1880; Cooke, Fl. Pres. Bomb. 3: 160. 1960; Hutch., Gen. Fl. Pl. 2: 151. 1967; Fl. China @ eFlora.org 5: 75; Fl. Pak. @ eFlora.org

Annual herbs, erect, odorous, dioecious, sometimes monoecious. Stem branched, furrowed. Leaves alternate above, opposite in lower part of stem, long-petioled, palmately compound (1) 3-9 (-11)-foliate, basally with 5-11 leaflets, apically with 1- 5 leaflets, leaflet margin serrate; stipules 2, free, lateral, filiform. Male inflorescences axillary or terminal, a lax panicle. Female inflorescences crowded in apical leaf axils among bracts and bracteoles. Male Flowers: Pedicellate. Perianth 5, free, imbricate. Stamens 5, opposite to tepals, erect in bud, pendulous when mature; anthers bithecous, dehiscence by longitudinal slits. Pistillode small or absent. Female Flowers: Bracts and bracteoles leaf-like. Perianth of single entire leaf, membranous, appressed to ovary; style 2, linear, caducous. Achenes solitary, crustaceous, surrounded by persistent perianth (perigonium) and bracts.

One species

Cannabis sativa L., Sp. Pl. 2: 1027. 1753; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 5: 487. 1890; Collett, Fl. Siml. ed. 2: 456. 1921(Reprint 1980); Cooke, Fl. Pres. Bomb. 3: 160. 1960; Parker, For. Fl. Punj. ed. 1: 485. 1918 (Reprint 1973); Sharma & Kachroo, Fl. Jammu (Illustr.) 2: t. 261. 1983; Dhaliwal & Sharma, Fl. Kullu Dist. 595. 1999; Kaur & Sharma, Fl. Sirmaur 586. 2004; Singh & Sharma, Fl. Chamba Dist. 650. 2006; Fl. China @ eFlora.org 5: 75; Fl. Pak. @ eFlora.org; C. chinensis Delile, Index Sem. Hort. Monsp. 1849; C. indica Lam., Encycl. 1: 695. 1785.

Annual herb, 1-3 m tall, slender, aromatic, resinous; stem and branches angular, grooved, densely pubescent or tomentose, retrosely hispidulus at angles. Leaves alternate or lower opposite; petioles 0.5-15 cm long, pubescent; leaf blade 2-16.5 cm long and broad, palmately compound, 1-7(-11)-foliate, upper leaves with 1-5 leaflets and lower with 5-11 leaflets, 1.5-16.5 cm x 0.2-2.7 cm, middle being the longest, linear-lanceolate, oblong-lanceolate or narrow-elliptic, coarsely and sharply serrate, long acuminate at apex, narrowed to the base, upper surface dark green, scabrid with stiff hairs topping cystoliths, lower surface pale or whitish-green and with densely appressed pubescence. Stipules free, 5-9 mm long, linear-subulate, white-margined, ciliate near apex. Flowers pale-greenish, unisexual (plants dioecious). Male Flowers: Clustered in short, pedunculate, drooping panicles, axillary or terminally on elongated leafless axis, 4-6 mm across, greenish, nodding. Pedicels 3-4.5 mm long, drooping, green or reddish. Perianth 5-7 mm x 1.5-2 mm, free, basally connate; segments 5, oblong, subacute or apiculate, boat-shaped, white-margined, abaxially appressed pubescent. Stamens 5, free, erect in bud and drooping when mature, exserted; filaments filiform, 0.7-1.5 mm long; anthers 4-5.5 mm x 1.2-1.4 mm, oblong, dehiscence by longitudinal slits, few to many bulbous trichomes present in stomium. Female inflorescences crowded in apical leaf axils among leaf- like bracts and bracteoles. Female Flowers: Green, sessile, erect. Perianth of single entire leaf enclosing and appressed with the ovary, pubescent, broadly ovate. Ovary subglobose, ca. 0.5 mm long, unilocular with a single, pendulous, anatropous ovule; style 1, short; stigmas 2, 2-3 mm long, protruding, plumose, glandular pubescent. Achenes 2.5-3 mm long, slightly compressed, smooth, yellow or greyish- brown, enclosed in persistent perianth, pericarp crustaceous; fruiting perianth 4-4.5 mm long, broad at base, contracted above, with inrolled margins in the upper part, forming a beak.

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