# Leaflet

> One of the separate serrated blades that make up a palmate cannabis leaf; a mature fan leaf typically has five to eleven leaflets.

- Canonical: https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/leaflet.html
- Also written: leaflets, leaf blade, finger, fingers, leaf fingers
- Glossary category: Plant biology · Evidence: Supported
- Status: Draft: awaiting expert review · Updated: 2026-10-31
- Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), attribute "GenetixBay cannabis glossary"

A leaflet is one blade of a compound leaf. Cannabis leaves are palmately compound: several leaflets radiate from the tip of a single [petiole](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/petiole.md) 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](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/bag-appeal.md) 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](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/genetics-history/indica-sativa-ruderalis.md).

## Related terms

[Fan leaf](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/fan-leaf.md), [Petiole](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/petiole.md), [Serration](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/serration.md), [True leaves](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/true-leaves.md)

## Read more

- [Cannabis plant biology: the parts and what they do](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/basics/cannabis-plant-biology.md)

## Sources

1. Small E. 2015. Evolution and classification of Cannabis sativa (marijuana, hemp) in relation to human utilization. The Botanical Review 81:189-294. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12229-015-9157-3
2. Smith CJ, Vergara D, Keegan B, Jikomes N. 2022. The phytochemical diversity of commercial Cannabis in the United States. PLOS ONE 17(5):e0267498. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0267498