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Preflowers, as opposed to full blown
flowers, generally appear after the fourth week of
vegetative growth from seed. Check carefully
above the fourth node. Please note that preflowers are
very small and and almost impossible to differentiate
without magnification. A photographer's 10x loupe is
handy indeed when examining preflowers.
As the
images below demonstrate, the female preflower is pear
shaped and produces a pair of pistils. Frequently, the
female preflowers do not show pistils until well after
the preflowers have emerged. Thus, don't yank a plant
because it has no pistils. Pistillate preflowers are
located at the node between the stipule and emerging
branch.
Also, some female preflowers never
produce pistils. A female preflower without pistils is
difficult to distinguish from a male preflower. Thus,
hermaphodite issues should not be resolved by the
appearance of preflowers, without pistils, on a plant
otherwise believed to be a female.
Female
(pistillate)
Image courtesy
of MrIto
Female (pistillate)
Image courtesy
of Uncle Ben
The male preflower may be
described as a "ball on a stick." However, its most
recognizable feature is its absence of pistils.
Sometimes, a male plant will develop mature staminate
flowers after prolonged periods of vegetative growth.
These appear in clusters around the nodes.
The
following image shows a male plant in early flowering.
Staminate flowers are located at the node between the
stipule and emerging branch.
Male
(staminate)
Image courtesy of PLAYn
 Image courtesy of PsycoXul
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