is cannabis a Desert plant?

[WEED_NERDD]

isn’t this outstanding that cannabis growing in Desert regions of Afghanistan is a Wide-leaved plant, whilst it faces severe drought in the region and extreme dry conditions which promote higher transpiration rates in the plants.

As mentioned above broad leaf is a selective disadvantage for desert plants.

What could be point/cause of having broader leaflets of cannabis in desert region when it is basically not advantageous to the plants? or I am missing some crucial information?

Thank you for reading this guys, help me understand better

[misterbee]

Remember the drastic temperature difference between the day and night. Some plants have Large Leaves to better store moisture. That’s why most Desert Plants have a “waxy sheen” to their leaves, reducing the rate of moisture loss. Having been previously stationed in both Northern Pakistan and Afghanistan, it’s rugged, dry, but NOT a Desert as one thinks (think Africa or Arabia). Plus, the Broad Leaves, as depicted, actually shades the plant. SS/BW…mister

[Tessellated]

right, it seems to me a plant like that would be better off, like maybe that dense mass of leaves would create a more humid microclimate around the plant to make up for the dry arid environment. nothing to back this up at all just a general observation. its like if you have a humid environment in a tent, and a lot of leaf matter, you defoliate to bring the RH down… I guess the reverse would be true?

[Sbeanonnamellow]

Howdy @WEED_NERDD, insightful commentary and thoughts! Leaf morphology is such an incredible thing! As @misterbee mentions, the leaves in more arid climates are typically a bit thicker with a waxy sheen to help limit transpiration. They typically have less leaflets and serrations too which influence a leafs boundary layer. Leaf boundary layer characteristics influence water loss potential. Something to consider also is the stomal density of plants. Plants from the wet humid tropics would likely have a higher stomal density than plants from an arid desert. The density and size of stoma contribute to potential exchange between the plants and their surrounding environment. There’s a journal paper I read that has some data and figures of stomal size and density and it seemed to show a fairly distinct pattern in terms of these adaptive traits across climates and such. Curious if anyone knows the watering practices of these types of traditional cannabis producing regions in the drier parts of Afghanistan and the Middle East? Are they irrigated from a water supply like a stream or river as domesticated crops can sometimes be, or are they left to simply survive with the resources of the land without any manmade irrigation techniques? Curious about the water availability as it relates to these observable traits. Many blessings and much love

[Toker1]

Intuition tells me no, Cactus are desert plants.
Perhaps semi arid I dunno can be ok.
Thing is I never met a pot plant that did not like
Lots of water.
I suspect they irrigate, use wells and maybe even gleen snow run off in spring.
Some things are just know for their environment
And Desert plants are ment for deserts.
I seen pics of oasis in the Sahara but without
The water…

[Sbeanonnamellow]

I think cannabis originated in the tropics and moved to more arid climates with mankind, opposed from the conventional theory of cannabis originating in central Asia. Your observations and perspective is very much enjoyed @Toker1. Your point about liking a lot of water is something to consider! Thank you for that idea to contemplate and research with. Many blessings and much love

[LonelyOC]

Very interesting thought indeed, never really contemplating on it before. My initial thought is also that both Afghanistan and Pakistan have a lot of different micro climate which produce different phenotypes. There’s also not a rule that afghani/pakistani cultivars produce broad leafs. By my experience I would say that “maple leaf”-leafs is not the norm in landraces from these regions. They can be found, but I’ve never encountered a landrace cultivar where this trait is homozygous.

Not really an answer, but it’s just an anecdotal experience at best. 🫣

Pz

[slain]

Although they live in the desert, they don’t get as much intensity from the sun because of the latitude, so they have broader leaves/ more chloroplast to capture to available sunlight. The tropics receives significantly more watts of sunlight per square meter, The Afghan types also flower faster to try and produce seed before they freeze.

[Star_Dog]

I would like a look at the leafs with a microscope.

Leafs naturally transpire water, I’d like to see if drought resistant strains have the same number or size of stomata for a given area if leaf.

[PsillyRabbit]

I know misterbee mentioned the waxes above. There are many cactus the shade themselves with hairs. Maybe they play a roll for cannabis in this way aswell
Lets also not forget humans have played a huge role in selective breeding for thousands of years.

-welcome weed nerd. I hope we have given you some food for thought.

[Dope_Heffalump]

I don’t think that Cannabis is a desert plant like a cactus or sage brush, but an herbacious plant found growing along river banks, swales, etc.
Most likely originating in central Asia and eventually being brought to the tropics.

[crownpoodle]

Deserts vary quite a bit. Just like every region. What does good for me often makes no sense.

[Zanzibar]

The spines of a cactus help protect it, but also collects dew to absorb, sorta like a root in this manner, fyi

I’ve thought about this (the question you ask). I live in the desert and most all of the native trees and shrubs have very small leaves. A big leaf would just get crushed by our intense sun and dry

[LandraceWarden]

Cannabis seems to thrive in dry conditions in the ancestral origins does not mean that it is a Desert plant, we often refer to the places where cannabis grows as “desert” are High altitude desert which have arid climate conditions. Although one physical aspect has been significant in these High-altitude desert landraces is that they have thicker cell boundary walls of leaf’s making the leaves aesthetic leather like tough. cactus and other plants which have prickly thorns and strong cuticles are actually advantageous in the desert region. Cannabis is an herbaceous plant acclimatized in several microclimates by the humans for their use.
I hope this might help.

& welcome to the OG, I think we are going to be gooooood friends
Image is dasht desert, Balochistan, 29°N 1700+ Meters above sea level A dry high altitude desert.

[Zanzibar]

Yes, cannabis loves where I live, too, tho needs supplemental watering, and might not grow best during the Summer. Otherwise, it does great. What you say about leathery leaves is very true. The tougher leaves hold up very well.
I’m at about 32ºN and 700M above sea level. Very arid and dry