Look closely at a well-grown flower and the surface seems dusted with frost — a field of tiny, glistening stalks catching the light. Those are trichomes, and for anyone reading genetics, they're one of the most honest signals a plant gives.
What trichomes are
Trichomes are microscopic resin glands that form on the flowers and the leaves around them. The most prominent type — the capitate-stalked trichome — looks like a clear stalk topped with a round head. Inside those heads, the plant produces and stores its terpenes and cannabinoids. In other words, trichomes are where a variety's aroma and chemistry actually live.
Why they matter to a breeder
Trichome density, size and structure are heritable traits — part of what a stabilized line passes on. A genetic known for a heavy, even coat of resin will express it generation after generation when the line breeds true. For a breeder, the frost isn't just aesthetic; it's evidence of a trait holding steady.
Reading the trichome heads
The heads also change appearance over the plant's life — shifting from clear to cloudy to amber as they mature. That colour shift can be read with nothing more than a loupe: a small window into the plant's development.
- Clear: early, still developing.
- Cloudy: the resin heads have filled out.
- Amber: fully mature.
A genetic's trichome character is part of its signature — as much a part of its identity as structure or terpene profile. See how our lines express in the catalogue, or trace their families in the lineage map.