Marijuana May Be Growing in Union Square Park

What plant is distinctly smelly, has several fan-like, serrated leaves, and has been cultivated for centuries for both medicinal and recreational purposes, to the point of spawning an entire subculture? Gosh, we don’t know, but it seems to be growing in the wilds of Union Square Park. Anyone sensitive to the appearance of different types of plants might notice what appears to be a cluster of marijuana, one large sapling and a few smaller sprouts, in a raised garden in the park. We sent these photos to Senior Cultivation Editor Danny Danko at High Times; here's his expert opinion:

It absolutely is cannabis sativa (pot, weed, marijuana). It was either a possible accidental sort of thing where a seed was tossed out, but there's also internet chatter about planting seeds to "overgrow" the government, in as many places a possible, willy-nilly. These aren't the expensive seeds we talk about in the magazine, but seeds people find in their pot and toss.
It's kind of a 4/20 thing: a celebration and form of protest from cannabis community. This could be that or it could be it grew from seeds that were discarded. It's doubtful someone expected to harvest it; it's likely it's either accidental or a protest. We've even seen some pop up in the median on Park Avenue. The Parks Dept is usually pretty quick about getting rid of those.

And after reviewing our photos, the science team at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden told us they think it's marijuana (Cannabis sativa). However, samples we took seemed to lack the infamous smell, and the nearby herb and vegetable sellers in the Greenmarket, who perhaps might have a knowledge of such matters, were doubtful. “It’s not marijuana,” said one. “Marijuana is a five-leaf plant. This frond has seven leaves. It’s also way too big. So you may think it’s marijuana, but it’s not.” After careful deliberation, we're gonna go with the High Times guy on this.

And the Union Square pot patch isn't the only one spotted in the urban wilds recently. Ava Chin of City Room noticed a similar plant in Ditmas Park recently, in front of a doctor’s office. Convinced by its distinctive appearance, Chin speculated that it could be medical marijuana, but the friend with whom she was walking, an experienced forager, had a more down-to-earth take. “Someone probably just tossed a bud into the hedges and the seed took,” she said.

In researching this story, we looked up plants frequently mistaken for marijuana, and the one that most resembled the plant on Union Square was the Cleome hassleriana, or spider plant. The Cleome apparently flowers from late spring to early fall (it’s late spring - but the Union Square plant lacked flowers) and can be distinguished from its illegal doppelganger by small thorns on its stem (we couldn’t find any). So perhaps in the near future, Union Square’s most wily and persistent entrepreneurs—the illegal ones—could have a local source for their stash! Unless we just narced them out.

We've asked the Parks Department for a comment; until we hear back, enjoy this pertinent Parks & Recreation clip:

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Rachel Pincus in News on June 14, 2010 3:16 PM

Comments [rss]

Skitsnygg

If that was weed, it would be a waste of time to smoke. I doubt there's any THC on that. Some weed that grows wild like that doesn't have a strong odor/THC.

Loulou

ah love the "experts". Not an expert myself at all btw just sayin'.

Its definitely cannabis..different strains grow different leaf patterns. Ive seen 5 pointed leaf and 7 and 9 etc. Depends on the strain and judging by what I see the leaves to look like its an indica strain. Sativa strains leave are usually skinny long and pointy.

LB

Why the fuck are you snitching Gothamist ? Fuck, Can't a pothead get a little luv and grow they shit in public without you telling the world?

BreezyDog

That is not Sativa...it is Indica all day long or a hybrid. Sativa has really thin leaves. Indica is fat leaves. The guy at HT is wrong if in fact they contacted him.

That thing will be snatched up by someone by morning. I hope they transplant. It's too young to smoke.

Zaphod

That's a beautiful female, marijuana seed plant. At least seven weeks old(probably even a little older, being that it is very likely from a seed tossed out around the first week of April).

Notice the healthy 'green' color, not to dark or bluish, and no hint of yellowing. With all the rain on the East Coast this season, it's doing just fine on it's own.

treeluvr

Folks....Cleome is non-serrated, Pot has serrated leaf edges. Cleome is alternating nodes, Pot has opposite. Trust me this HYBRID Cannabis plant (probably a hybrid between Cannabis Sativa x Cannabis Indica) is...well...pot. It doesn't look ANYTHING like Cleome. Anyone saying it does needs to look the plants up in a Botany book. And the smell thing: Both Male and Female smell, but the female flowers smell MUCH stronger (that's the part people smoke). It clearly hasn't budded out yet. Oh and the number of leaflets..pot can have up to 11 or so on a big leave. It doesn't just have 5.

"A weed is just a plant dealing with an unhappy person"

undraccoon

it's a spider plant, silly! any person who is into annual garden flowers or into the smokin variety should be able to tell the diff. ugh. stories like this just kill me.

PabloKoh

By the texture, shape and color of the leaves it looks as if it is a popular indica/sativa hybrid strain called NYC Park Diesel. Manufactured by Soma Seeds.

r1b2

Ava Chin kicks ass.

r1b2

I hope it's the real thing. I hope folks plant it randomly throughout the City.

silver

Cannabis AKA hemp wasn't called ditchweed for nothing.

potsmoker

dont ask me i get my pot from a guy who works in the NYPD processing evidence...

never seen a plant just little nickel and dime bags

vdiddy

I have grown pot. lots of it. and that sure looks like pot to me

musicmanyc

That definitely is a male Sativa.

And no, a male plant wont smell, but I can assure it will still get you very high.

Trust me I know.

thefacts

Me too. Not lots, but enough to know it when I see it.

Coincidentally, I had done guerrilla gardening not far from here on 14th and 6th Ave years ago. This is a perfect spot for this kind of thing.

Btw, It's amazing the amount of misinformation people write on these blogs, even contradicting High Times' experts. Of course, it's pot.

It has no odor because it could be male, or because it hasn't budded yet. Flower formation is day/night sensitive and the solstice is not here yet.

But why would Gothamist be so mean-spirited as to reveal this. You can be sure it will be uprooted asap by Parks.

Pretty despicable thing to do, to be so desperate for a story.

nicemarmot

Having had a friend with her own garden - I'm not sure that's pot. Specifically the leaves texture seems wrong. Maybe some weird strain, or maybe it's a spider plant as some others seem to think.

PillowTalk

This is definitely the rose queen, also known as the spider plant, also known as Cleome hassleriana. It's a common park plant in NYC that's reknowned for pothead idiots and uptight geezers mistaking it for pot and raising a fuss every now and again. We have them in our neighborhood, the flowers are beautiful, but when they aren't there it looks a lot like pot.

John_Matrix

as written in the article, there are no thorns on the union square plant. all spider plants have thorny stems.

hapanabwana

I wouldn't be so sure. The third pic has a close-up of the leaves, and they're dentate (symmetrically toothed) like Cannabis. All the cleome I've ever seen and all the pics I can find of C. hassleriana have entire (smooth) or serrulate (finely serrated) margins. That doesn't mean it's necessarily Cannabis, but it's certainly not improbable.