Cactus 'gender'?

[Maturin]

Hi all,

I know some plants have a true gender, and some of their nick-names reflect this (like marijuana=Mary Jane). But I was wondering (sorry if this sounds stoopid!) does cactus have a gender? Why is peyote, for instance, referred to as "Father Peyote"? Is it because the cactus is of a masculine gender, or is this a belief regarding the "spirit" (for lack of a better word) of the psychedelic experience from the consumption of peyote?

[gerbil]

You can get all sorts of answers depending on what context imo, then on top of that personal opinion.

In general; in terms of botanical sexuality, Trichocereus and Lophophora flowers possess gynoecium (Carpels=Style/stigma/ovary) and androecium (stamens=anthers/filament) within the one structure, so their flowers possess male and female parts on the same plant within the same flower...They are bisexual.

Spiritually is a different matter.

Cannabis is generally dioecious, having seperate imperfect male (staminate) and female (pistillate) flowers on seperate plants.

Cannabis plants used for female bud production and pistillate, therefore refered to as female. The plant is generally unisexual

Edited August 8, 2006 by gerbil

[occidentalis]

Yep as gerbil says, context is very important.

There are three different ways (that i can think of) that plants are related to gender or sex.

First is biologically, as gerbil says, individual plants in dioecious species are one sex or the other.

The second is because latin is a gendered language, botanical latin names have gender. This may or may not be based on anything to do with the plant itself.

Third is the cultural or spiritual side of things, where humans have interpreted the particular characteristics of the plant itself, or the experiences its consumption provides, as being male or female. For example, plants such as Cannabis and Salvia are usually described as female, while cacti are usually male.

[Maturin]

 

Cheers, people!