Why does cannabis produce resin?

VerdantGreen said:

some good replies guys, i still need to reed the reference, but as for animal/insect protection, if that were true why does every animal/insect from miles around queue up to have a munch on the plants ???

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i think its for pollen like you said maybe its an attractor but also protects its self. it would explian why males have less trichs cos it doesnt have seeds to protect only pollen. maybe the best smelling females attract pollen spreading insects but other feeding insects have evolved to attact the plant so the plant addapted trichs to combat it. i dunno maybe im pissing in the wind its somthing i often think about

VerdantGreen said:

but as for animal/insect protection, if that were true why does every animal/insect from miles around queue up to have a munch on the plants ???

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Because they are so tasty

Adaptations are seldom perfect solutions. Evolution is a constant arms race between predators and prey. If a particular trait provides even a modicum of benefit to it's reproductivity, that trait will be selected for and it's presence in the population will increase.

Do you have any proof that "all wind pollinated plants evolved from insect pollinated plants"? Or to be specific that Cannabis evolved from an insect pollinated plant? Can you tell us what it was?
-SamS

VerdantGreen said:

not just THC but the whole sticky contents of glandular trics

This is one ive wondered about for a while, many think it is a defense against sun/UV, but it is also produced on stems and underside of leaves. perhaps it is a defense against something else?

one hypothesis that ive always had and liked is that the resin is to attract insects for pollenation - because although cannabis is wind pollenated, it would (like all wind pollinated plants) have evolved from insect pollenated plants.

does anyone know or have any ideas or references ?

thanks,

VG

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Sam_Skunkman said:

Do you have any proof that "all wind pollinated plants evolved from insect pollinated plants"? Or to be specific that Cannabis evolved from an insect pollinated plant? Can you tell us what it was?
-SamS

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hi sam , im afraid that most of my own study of botany was from books and that is where i read this, but ive had a search and can provide some abstracts. mr Fista may also be able to chime in...


http://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/abstract/S0169-5347(02)02540-5

Wind pollination (anemophily) of angiosperms probably evolved from insect pollination (entomophily) in response to pollinator limitation and changes in the abiotic environment. Recent evidence suggests that ambophily (a combination of both wind and insect pollination) might be more common than was previously presumed and could represent either a stable or transitional state. We review factors favoring the evolution of wind pollination and analyse the extent of specialization towards such pollination. Phylogenetic analyses suggest that anemophily is more likely to evolve in groups with small, simple flowers and dry pollen. Wind-pollinated plants appear to have a bimodal distribution in selfing rates, but further studies recognizing the possibility of a combination of wind and animal pollination within taxa are needed to clarify this relationship.Wind pollination has evolved multiple times in angiosperms, but our knowledge of the process is still limited. We review factors favoring wind pollination, incorporating information from recent phylogenetic analyses.

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i should add that i am referring to angiosperms (flowering plants) and not all plants.

Found a great review that may speak to the anti-predatory aspect of this subject
McPartland, John M. 1997. Cannabis as repellent and pesticide. Journal of the International Hemp Association 4(2): 87-92

I found this interesting. I interpret it as saying defense pathways overlap, meaning the pathways are similar in chemical makeup, but any one kind of stress produces specific ratios unique to that kind of stress.

Plant Immunity: It’s the Hormones Talking, But What Do They Say?
http://www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/content/full/154/2/536

hth

Attracting birds & other species susceptible to eat the seeds and disperse some of them viable.

Do you have any proof that "all wind pollinated plants evolved from insect pollinated plants"? Or to be specific that Cannabis evolved from an insect pollinated plant? Can you tell us what it was?
-SamS

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I'm no expert paleo-botanist, but this sounds highly unprobable to me. Insect pollination is a highly specialized way of reproduction, the plant usually adapting itself to one single insect species (opposite can be true also), and I hardly see how it could be the start of an evolutive process leading to wind pollination, which is the most basic type of reproduction and would rather be at the beginning of the said process.

Also one needs to answer how other plants 'protect' themselves from UV radiation, shouldn't there be a vast amount of resin covered non-cannabis plants in high UV radiation regions?

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UV protection comes from thc in plant tissues, it's not about resin.

If one thinks along the lines of UV protection, one has to consider that cannabis plants didn't have such high amounts of trichs before humans selected and bred for them.

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You make a point here. Highly resinous strains might indeed have been scarce in the early days of cannabis breeding history. If such was the case, then, to answer first question, we can imagine that cannabis secretes resin to increase its chances of reproduction & opportunities to expand its geographical presence (damn, there's an expression for that, but I can't remember it...), through its interactions with the human species, and under the care of the said species. If so, then cannabis secretes resin so the plant can use us, kinda like with flowers feeding nectar to bees in exchange for pollination.
Not a lot of plants have managed to conquer so many diverses areas, I mean, it even grow in closets & computer cases !

Irie !

mriko said:

UV protection comes from thc in plant tissues, it's not about resin.

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I don't know what you mean by this, please explain?

THC is not contained only in resin glands, but is also present throughout the plant tissues, plant matter (leaves, flowers, etc.). It is this thc which is spread all around in plant which provides most of the protection against UVs.
The whole plant needs to be protected against UVs, not only the seeds.

Irie !

"role of resin in angiosperm pollination"
http://www.jstor.org/pss/2443391

Cannabis actually has two kinds of trichomes, glandular and non-glandular. The non-glandular trichomes are the really small hairs all over the plant, they often make the stem of a young plant look sort of white. These hairs are modified epidermal cells that restrict water loss from the plants stomatal pores, playing a key role in regulating the plants internal temperature.

The second kind of trichome is what the OP is asking about. These are also modified epidermal cells, that function to secrete resin. It has been suggested that this resin is not to capture pollen, but as stated in an earlier post to attract pollinators. This is justified by the fact that resin is not need for pollination since most plants do not have any resin on their pistils, yet they are able to reproduce just fine. The idea that resin does play a key role in pollination is shown in an unpollinated female that will continue to produce more resin towards the end of its flowering phase, yet halt resin production if germinated.

resin must help capture pollen,,, but could the plant not just be diverting energy from protecting cells to growing the seed ?? which has the natural defence of the seed case from uv and is more important than the productivity of the cells in the calyx surrounding,,

i personally agree with the uv protection theory,,,ruderelis has alot of trichs but very little THC and is exposed to far far less radiation where it comes from than equatorial sativas which contain much more THC relative to the other compounds,,,and high altitude equatorial sativas contain even more THC in response to the environment and their genetics which is in all likelyhood where cannabis was put under enough pressure to evolve the secretion of THC in the first place,,,

just because man has bred the plant to have more THC has nothing to do with how it came about,,, man also still selects tomatos to be red but they were probably red before we even walked the earth,,, i think any other advantages of the compounds specifically in cannabis on the effects of insects is a slight bonus,,, but cannabis has lots of compounds like most plants that help to sour its taste to insects (tannins and terpenoids),,, its possible that certain traits like flavours and smells that we enjoy could have helped deter insects in the past and we are digging them up bit by bit out of its vast family tree,,,,

this is all just in my opinion,, science should never be happy being consensus,,, thats how we've got into this current state of lies,,,

I think I'm going to throw in my opinion and agree with Honkytonk on human selection. We know cannabis and hemp ( I'm going say they are different for this post) have been used by humans for thousands of years. If I am not mistaken, because I never really saw wild hemp, it is not very resinous, probaly because certain phenotypes were taken for fiber. Now on the other hand if over this same time period certain cultures took phenotypes of cannabis for their capabilities to get you high or produce hash, then it stands to reason, that over the years natural selection has favored these types and indeed has evolved from more hempy plants. I mean do we breed for fiber, or do we, or in past times, shamans, medicine men, or people looking to alter their concious, breed for resin. I think resin has actually proven to be more of a survival feature in the continuation of the species. Just one mans humble opinion. PS I'm sure resins do other things also, but I think this is how they have helped the plant evolve into what it is today

hiker said:

I think I'm going to throw in my opinion and agree with Honkytonk on human selection. We know cannabis and hemp ( I'm going say they are different for this post) have been used by humans for thousands of years. If I am not mistaken, because I never really saw wild hemp, it is not very resinous, probaly because certain phenotypes were taken for fiber. Now on the other hand if over this same time period certain cultures took phenotypes of cannabis for their capabilities to get you high or produce hash, then it stands to reason, that over the years natural selection has favored these types and indeed has evolved from more hempy plants. I mean do we breed for fiber, or do we, or in past times, shamans, medicine men, or people looking to alter their concious, breed for resin. I think resin has actually proven to be more of a survival feature in the continuation of the species. Just one mans humble opinion. PS I'm sure resins do other things also, but I think this is how they have helped the plant evolve into what it is today

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Actually hemp is made from a completely different plant than the pot were smoking, but I agree with you completely on our impact. We have certainly bred this plant into something very different than in used to be and have selected for high trichome phenotypes. Very good points; how much resin did the plants have in nature, and what was its purpose? I still think to attract pollinators.

are we talking about trichomes or THC though ?

resin is a bit vague as to the source of whats going on,,

THC is degraded by uv into cannabinoids which obviously uses up the radiation,,,,, according to what ive read anyway,,,,,and the simple fact that the THC is presented in a trichome up above the cells must be key,,,

many other plants do utilise a similar system to help keep them cool and protect from uv and like you say the heat caused,,, many succulents and some carnivorous plants are thought to have first developed trichome like hairs in response to stochastic levels of uv and/or heat,, which
became a means to capture nutrition from little flies in carnivorous plants like sundews,, once the genes for the neccessary enzymes popped up in the population )

the idea about trapping moisture is still very tenable though for trichomes during flowering imo,,, all plants need far more moisture during flowering and trichomes would help create a far more humid micro climate around the plant,,, and if cannabis did come from some very hot, high altitude, regions in the first place then the ability to trap more moisture around the plant(/plants as a group) would be another extra bonus to having them,,

as for where the theory came from i think it is an old one tbh,, ive read a fair few studies in journals like the lancet where it is practically just accepted as fact,,, but the scientific community are just idiot sheep like everyone else that believe what is put in front of them so that is definitely not the reason i feel it is the best theory,,

imo the relationship between cannabinoids and the brain in humans would imply that we both go back along way together (humans and cannabis), i wouldn't be even slightly surprised if we have been growing and smoking it for 100-200,000 years (plus,plus,plus),,,

i dont think insects would create the right amount of pressure on a population required to generate a leap towards what would have probably initially been a fairly insignificant amount of protection against insects,,, but far crazier things have blatently happened in order to form adaptations in loads of forms of life so its possible,, and like you rightly say llewop the resin must denature pollen if anything so it doesnt help with pollination,,

its a tough one,,, the answer now is obviously for man, because it has been selected so far away from hemp,,, but the reason why it evolved trichomes and THC in the first place must be down to something else,, in many plants the reason for trichomes is to deal with a hot arid environment but only cannabis has the THC and cannabinoids we adore,,,,

in short i dont know really,, all of the above,,,

llewop said:

Where did this UV theory originate? No other plant protects itself from ultraviolet light in this way... Plants have anthocyanins which absorb the harmful UV light. Other plants have special enzymes which repair any damage that UV has on the plants DNA. If anything, I would say that maybe the trichomes protect the plant from the heat of solar radiation, or from nighttime frost. The trichomes could keep small insects from eating the plant, or help capture moisture. But these ideas all don't make sense considering the plant only produces the trichomes when flowering.

I'm sure resin captures pollen, but it doesn't improve reproduction. If anything resin has a negative effect on pollination since the pollen must land on the stigma of the plant, not the trichome. Since pollen is so small this really doesn't matter since any trichome that captures pollen will also have a lot of pollen in the surrounding area resulting in the formation of a seed.

anyway the insect pollination theory is the only one that makes sense to me. I like you last quote by the way. respect.

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Could the Resin be considered a "Fruit" not in the literal sense.

A co-evolutionary relationship perhaps like the humming birds and my honeysuckle bush.

It's just that the Cannabis plant hung out it's initial "Fruit" which just so happened to have a psychoactive effect on one of the premier Apex Predators on the planet. Causing folks to fight to protect its genes to this day.

Or maybe the resin helps stick the seeds to animals walking through it carrying it further around.

DoD

Just curious, but for all those who say this or that off the top of their head, can you provide references? Evidence for or against? Has anyone read any of the studies linked to in this thread?

VerdantGreen asked a legitimate question, but only a few actually provided any kind of reference as to why. Everybody else just states their own thoughts and ideas as to why.

Opinion/conjecture/supposition is all well and good for burning a fat one around the fireplace on a cold winter's night, but does nothing to further research. Which, I believe, is the main reason for the forum this thread is found in.

Please, do not misunderstand, I'm not trying to be a dick. But if we want a reasoned logical approach free from opinion/conjecture/supposition it is necessary to maintain critical thinking, and the best way is to cite references for what you say or take it to the Toker's Den. But not in a forum labeled "Cannabis Botany and Advanced Growing Science."

Peace

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