Can Cannabis Plants Mutate?

Dear Stoner: Can cannabis plants mutate? I saw a double-budded flower, and wondered if you’d ever seen anything weird on weed.
Cary

Dear Cary: Cannabis plants have experienced plenty of mutations, from a subtle color change to wacky leaves. I’ve never seen anything crazy outside of variegation – differently colored leaves, buds and stems on the same plant – but growers love sharing odd things they come across. Color changes and twin seedlings are relatively common, but leaves can also mutate, with tri-leafs, dual-colored leaves and bud-bearing leaves just a few examples.

One mutation involving webbed leaves, known as duckfoot, was popular enough for growers to breed the quality into a few novelty strains like Duckfoot and Frisian Duck. Non-leaf mutations like twin seedlings or low-hanging “creeper” branches are often doomed to die on their own or take out the entire plant with them, while other oddities have been encouraged by growers. More successful examples include cannabis that grows like herbs or vines as opposed to the shrub-like pot plants you’re used to, which is somewhat popular in Australia; other rare bud mutations have been known to increase THC potency. Some of these abnormalities could be undocumented effects of specific growing techniques and environments, and not real mutations, but either way, they’re fun to look at online.

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