# Is this a marijuana plant?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-marijuana-plant/816879
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [June 27, 2018, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-marijuana-plant/816879 "2018-06-27T23:23:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2018, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-marijuana-plant/816879/1 "2018-06-27T23:23:24Z")
My daughter says [this](http://i65.tinypic.com/2vvt0uo.jpg) is growing next to her boyfriend’s house.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2018, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-marijuana-plant/816879/2 "2018-06-27T23:38:11Z")
Normally marijuana puts out odd numbers of leaves. My count from the photo shows even numbers. I’m either blind or that isn’t marijuana.
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### Author:  [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2018, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-marijuana-plant/816879/3 "2018-06-27T23:50:09Z")
It absolutely is a weed plant and likely a sativa dominant strain, too.
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### Author:  [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2018, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-marijuana-plant/816879/4 "2018-06-27T23:59:50Z")
Looks like it to me.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-marijuana-plant/816879/5 "2018-06-28T00:06:14Z")
Looks like it to me too. I don’t know anything else it could be.
> [@silenus](#):
>
> Normally marijuana puts out odd numbers of leaves. My count from the photo shows even numbers. I’m either blind or that isn’t marijuana.
Various leaves in that photo have anywhere from 5 to 9 leaflets, by my count. A couple of the largest leaves look like they have 8 leaflets, but I think it’s because one of the smaller leaflets is not showing clearly in the photograph.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-marijuana-plant/816879/6 "2018-06-28T12:40:29Z")
Hell ya.
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### Author:  [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-marijuana-plant/816879/7 "2018-06-28T13:41:12Z")
I can think of one way to find out for sure.
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### Author:  [@Perderabo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perderabo)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-marijuana-plant/816879/8 "2018-06-28T14:13:56Z")
Maybe kenaf. Cops sometimes bust people growing kenaf thinking it’s marijuana. (And it’s scientific name is hibiscus cannabinus) I suspect that people breed strains to resemble marijuana. Check the pics on this page:
> **[robsrareandgiantseeds.com](http://ww38.robsrareandgiantseeds.com/rare-hibiscus-kenaf-cannabinus-giant-5-seeds-1130/)**
>
> This domain may be for sale!
While the pics on this page wouldn’t fool anybody:
> **[Kenaf](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenaf)**
>
> Kenaf \[etymology: Persian\], Hibiscus cannabinus, is a plant in the family Malvaceae also called Deccan hemp and Java jute. Hibiscus cannabinus is in the genus Hibiscus and is native to Africa, though its exact origin is unknown. The name also applies to the fibre obtained from this plant. Kenaf is one of the allied fibres of jute and shows similar characteristics.
> Other names include Bimli, Ambary, Ambari Hemp, Deccan Hemp, and Bimlipatum Jute.
> According to Miyake and Suzuta (1937), there are...
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-marijuana-plant/816879/9 "2018-06-28T14:16:23Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#):
>
> I can think of one way to find out for sure.
Well, first the plant needs to be sexed. If female, she needs to be put into flowering mode which will happen automatically as day lengths shorten. Outdoors it is also possible to flower early by manipulating day length, covering the plant to exclude light for a 12-12 light/dark cycle.
After harvesting and drying/curing, there is a psychoactive effect noted after smoking or consuming the buds.
But yes, the plant is \*cannabis sativa \*.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-marijuana-plant/816879/10 "2018-06-28T14:23:25Z")
> [@Perderabo](#):
>
> Maybe kenaf. Cops sometimes bust people growing kenaf thinking it’s marijuana. (And it’s scientific name is hibiscus cannabinus) I suspect that people breed strains to resemble marijuana. Check the pics on this page:
>
> [http://robsrareandgiantseeds.com/rare-hibiscus-kenaf-cannabinus-giant-5-seeds-1130/](http://robsrareandgiantseeds.com/rare-hibiscus-kenaf-cannabinus-giant-5-seeds-1130/)
That’s because the pics on that pages (at least the close-up photos of leaves) actually _are_ marijuana, and not kenaf.
[Hibiscus cannabinus](https://toptropicals.com/pics/garden/m2/2015/8/20150808_190105Hibiscus_cannabinus_TA.jpg) leaflets are not divided all the way to the base; those of marijuana are.
> [@](#):
>
> While the pics on this page wouldn’t fool anybody:
>
> [Kenaf - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenaf)
That’s because those are actually kenaf rather than marijuana. Kenaf won’t fool anyone who looks at it more than superficially.
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### Author:  [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-marijuana-plant/816879/11 "2018-06-28T14:24:41Z")
Hey, if you toss the seeds away after you clean the stuff, things can happen…
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### Author:  [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-marijuana-plant/816879/12 "2018-06-28T14:53:44Z")
Is it legal to grow in Portlandia?
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-marijuana-plant/816879/13 "2018-06-28T14:59:09Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#):
>
> Is it legal to grow in Portlandia?
Beats me. The photo is out in Wisconsin. Pot is legal in Oregon, of course, and my understanding is that you can own six plants, but I’m just not interested enough to find out at this point.
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-marijuana-plant/816879/14 "2018-06-28T15:48:55Z")
Looks like C. sativa.
It’s true that some varieties of Hibiscus (especially Texas Star Hibiscus) bear a startling vegetative resemblance to pot, [with unfortunate consequences](https://triblive.com/local/valleynewsdispatch/12960252-74/police-mistook-hibiscus-plants-for-marijuana-arrested-buffalo-township-couple-suit-claims).
Other plants [supposedly have look-alike leaves](https://www.southernliving.com/garden/grumpy-gardener/dont-let-these-marijuana-lookalikes-send-you-to-jail), though I think you’d have to be a botanical moron to be confused.
\ ***Jackmannii** uneasily contemplates the fact that he is currently growing at least three plants in his garden which idiots could potentially mistake for pot (Vitex agnus-castus, Manihot esculenta and Cleome).
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### Author:  [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-marijuana-plant/816879/15 "2018-06-28T16:41:27Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#):
>
> It absolutely is a weed plant and likely a sativa dominant strain, too.
Yes to both. If it were more of an indica strain the leave fronds/fingers would be wider and the general color would be a bit darker green.
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### Author:  [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-marijuana-plant/816879/16 "2018-06-28T16:47:51Z")
I would need a sample to give an opinion.
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### Author:  [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-marijuana-plant/816879/17 "2018-06-28T16:49:31Z")
> [@Chefguy](#):
>
> My daughter says [this](http://i65.tinypic.com/2vvt0uo.jpg) is growing next to her boyfriend’s house.
If your worry is that your daughter might be dating a dopehead, be cool. Those hemp plants grow like everywhere; they’re mostly the result of birds dropping hemp seeds from feeders!
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### Author:  [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-marijuana-plant/816879/18 "2018-06-28T17:02:07Z")
And although sex cannot usually determined until they start to flower, this looks like it will be female because it is branching out. Males tend toward the tall and skinny so at maturity they will be above the females when they release their pollen.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-marijuana-plant/816879/19 "2018-06-28T17:03:55Z")
> [@Ignotus](#):
>
> If your worry is that your daughter might be dating a dopehead, be cool. Those hemp plants grow like everywhere; they’re mostly the result of birds dropping hemp seeds from feeders!
Do you have a cite for that?
I have heard from a number of sources that the hemp in bird seed mixes is sterile and will not germinate.
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### Author:  [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2018, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-marijuana-plant/816879/20 "2018-06-28T17:26:07Z")
Yeah, that’s not a hemp plant, it’s smoking weed. Hemp doesn’t branch like that. And it’s probably not from seed either, because it’s very seldom you’ll find a seed in your bag and if you do it’s a hermaphrodite seed which is not super likely to germinate. Any adult in Oregon can legally grow up to four plants at a time, indoor or outdoor, and the only restriction is that if growing outdoor you’re not supposed to have it in plain sight and refrain from skunking out the neighbors.
Also I absolutely invite all the would-be wags who think they can determine the species of the plant by smoking it to give it the old college try. I will laugh at you and then I’ll hand you some aspirin for the headache you’ll give yourself. Plants in veg contain zero psychoactive compounds, and that little plant is firmly in veg and very young–if it’s from seed it’s maybe a month or so past sprouting and won’t even start to flower (assuming it’s female) until sometime in September when the equinox hits.
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