What Does Weed Look Like?

Are you unsure of what marijuana looks like? It’s useful to know what cannabis looks like in both its plant and dried forms.

The plant form of marijuana has a distinctive look, with its multi-pronged jagged green leaves.

Often grown outdoors or in pots, the marijuana plant has a main long, thin stem that branches off into smaller stems. Along the stems flowers, or buds, bloom. It’s these buds that contain the active ingredient in marijuana, THC (tetrahydrocannabinol). Only female marijuana plants will produce flowers, so it’s quite likely that if you see a plant that looks like a marijuana plant that it is a female one.

The buds, which are the only part of the plant that is smoked, are also green in colour, and will often have red hairs and crystals, or trichomes, on them.

Male marijuana plants do look similar to female plants, but can be distinguished by their thicker stems and the pollen sacs that develop where the stems meet the main plant.

The growing period, which can last several months, sees the plant cycle through from seed to seedling, then from sprouted plant through the vegetative stage, and finally to the flowering and harvesting stage. The appearance of the marijuana plant changes dramatically through the stages, which typically sees the plant double in size.

Once the plant has reached maturity and is harvested, the cannabis has to be dried before it can be smoked.

Dried marijuana is typically trimmed to dispose of most of the stems and outer leaves, leaving the buds. These are usually green in colour, and progressively get browner as they dry out and age. The buds are still attached to small stems and you should be able to see small leaves and ideally, brown hairs and crystals on the buds.

If the dried cannabis is older, its colour may be brown and even gray. Instead of buds, it’s possible for dried marijuana to be cut up or crumbled into many smaller pieces, a mixture of dried leaves and stems.

Good quality dried marijuana will be green in colour and be in bud form, with visible trichomes on its surface.

Marijuana in its most common plant and dried form is easy to spot when you know what to look for.