# Pistillate flower

> A female flower with a pistil but no functional stamens; in cannabis, a bract-wrapped ovary topped by two stigmas.

- Canonical: https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/pistillate-flower.html
- Also written: female flower, female flowers, pistillate flowers, carpellate flower
- Glossary category: Plant biology · Evidence: Established
- 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 pistillate flower is a female flower: it has a [pistil](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/pistil.md) (ovary, style, [stigmas](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/stigma.md)) and no functional stamens. In cannabis each one is tiny, a single ovary in a cupped [perigonal bract](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/bract.md) with two protruding stigmas. They form in clusters at nodes and pack densely at [shoot tips](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/apical-meristem.md) into colas.

## In practice

Unpollinated female flowers are what drug-type growers harvest. When they are kept seedless ([sinsemilla](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/sinsemilla.md)), the plant keeps producing new flowers and resin for weeks rather than diverting resources to seed. One stray pollen source can seed a room, so growers remove males and [intersex plants](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/hermaphrodite.md) early.

Spotting them: a pistillate [pre-flower](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/pre-flower.md) shows a teardrop bract with one or two white stigmas at a node, usually from the fourth to sixth node up, behind the stipule.

## Don't confuse with

- **Staminate flower**: the [male flower](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/staminate-flower.md) with anthers and pollen.
- **Bud**: a cluster of many pistillate flowers, not a single flower.
- **Intersex flower**: a pistillate plant producing some staminate flowers or anthers.

## Related terms

[Pistil](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/pistil.md), [Stigma](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/stigma.md), [Bract](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/bract.md), [Staminate flower](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/staminate-flower.md), [Dioecious](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/dioecious.md)

## Read more

- [Male, female and hermaphrodite cannabis: how sex works](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/basics/sex-male-female-hermaphrodite.md)
- [Cannabis plant biology: the parts and what they do](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/basics/cannabis-plant-biology.md)

## Sources

1. Spitzer-Rimon B, Duchin S, Bernstein N, Kamenetsky R. 2019. Architecture and florogenesis in female Cannabis sativa plants. Frontiers in Plant Science 10:350. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2019.00350