A leaflet is one blade of a compound leaf. Cannabis leaves are palmately compound: several leaflets radiate from the tip of a single petiole like fingers from a palm. Leaflet count rises with maturity (one, three, five, seven, nine, eleven, occasionally thirteen) and then drops again as leaves get smaller toward the flowers.
In practice
Leaflet shape is the main thing people mean when they say a plant "looks indica" (broad, short leaflets) or "looks sativa" (long, narrow leaflets). That is a description of shape and nothing more. Leaflet width varies even across one plant and with light and nutrition.
Leaflets are also where most diagnosis happens: where on the leaflet a symptom starts (tip, margin, between veins) and whether it is on old or new growth narrows the cause fast. Unusual leaflet forms (fused, webbed or single-blade "duckfoot") are genetic leaf-shape variants.
Don't confuse with
- Leaf: the whole compound organ including petiole and all leaflets.
- Fan leaf: a large mature leaf; it is made of leaflets.
- Serration: the saw-tooth edge of a leaflet.
Myth check
Broad leaflets do not mean a sedating effect, and narrow ones do not mean an energetic one. Leaf shape does not predict chemistry (Supported: Smith et al. 2022; Watts et al. 2021). See indica, sativa, ruderalis.
