CANNABIS TAXONOMY
How to correctly name and define your cannabis cultivars
I had an interesting discussion today with Tom from Stealth Garden. He was referencing literature from Robert Clarke, a world renowned cannabis expert, author of the Canna-Bible series, a series I own, and have read many times over... In recent times I have also had this debate with one of my close friends and mentors Oli S...
Tom, Oli, and Robert Connell Clarke have all pointed out to me - our mordern terminology for the differences in the 2 main Cannabis varieties, Indica and Sativa are incorrect, too vague, and anyone who has been in this cannabis and hemp game long enough I hope by the end of this article will understand exactly why.
Cannabis (referring to the general hemp OR cannabis plant) as most of us know is generally divided into two subspecies - C. Sativa and C. Indica.
These two subspecies are identified by most by the plants structure (indica being short and squat plant growth with a short and wide leaf, and sativa being long and stretched plant growth with a long and narrow leaf.
For many many years and for a majority of the world this is where the subspecies in cannabis stopped. Whether you grow hemp, or cannabis, your cultivars all had to fit in one category or the other. Indica or Sativa.
And this is where (for most) we went wrong somehow only in our identification (not so much our breeding). Where it stopped here, classic factors such as "geographical location" (or origin of diffusion) , and in particular its "common use" by our ancestors ie - whether it was used for fiber/seed or as a drug, and most importantly the plants "genome group" (differences of appearance etc) which I will cover first - all need to be taken into account to best identify cannabis subspecies.
GENOME GROUPS + COMMON USES.
Our human ancestors first spread cannabis worldwide for a variety of uses. The amazing symbiotic relationship between cannabis and humans naturally selecting their best plants seeds over many generations and even millennia aided making the plant what it is today - an incredible thought. The putative ancestor (PA) of all Cannabis originated some-
where in Central Asia or in more recent times was found to be in Tibet. From here cannabis evolved into 4 major gene pools and taxonomic groups:
NLH
- Narrow Leaflet Hemp, "C. Sativa", Rarely phsycoative, low resin 1:1 CBD:THC commonly used for fiber and seed thc </= 0.3% origin Europe.
BLH
- Broad Leaflet Hemp, "C. Indica subsp. Chinensis, mildly phsycoative, moderate resin 1:1 CBD:THC, commonly used for fiber and seed thc </= 0.5% origin East Asia
NLD
- Narrow Leaflet Drug, "C. Indica subsp. Indica" , very psycoactive, moderate resin 1:20 CBD:THC, commonly used for fiber, seed and drug. THC </= 20% Since the 1960s, most of the drug Cannabis that reached
North America and Europe was C. indica subsp. indica. Cannabis users (such as myself until now) commonly call grown plants of these varieties “sativas” because their leaflets are relatively narrow, and therefore exhibit a superficial resemblance to those of European NLH plants. Based on taxonomic tradition, these plants are properly called “indicas” rather than “sativas.”
BLD
- Broad Leaflet Drug, "C. Indica subsp. Afghanica" Moderately psycoactive. High resin 1:1 CBD:THC commonly used as a drug, particularly hashish THC </= 10%. Origin Afghanistan
These - C. Sativa, C. Indica subsp. Chinensis, C. Indica subsp. Indica, C. Indica subsp. Afghanica are our worlds 4 main landrace sub species of cannabis. From here we also evolve to our more common species amongst us today - hybrid genomes:
HEMP CULTIVARS
NLH x BLH narrow leaflet hemp x broad leaflet hemp. CBD:THC 3:1 common uses are fiber and seed THC </= 0.5%
SENSIMILLIA CULTIVARS
NLD x BLD narrow leaflet drug x broad leaflet drug. Variable phsycoativity, copious resin. Commonly used as a drug. THC and/or CBD 0.1% to 20%
THC CULTIVARS
CBD:THC 1:5 to 1: >20, THC >20% low CBD <0.1%
CBD CULTIVARS
CBD>/=THC 1:1 to 20:1, THC <5%, high CBD >/= 4%
Taxonomy groupings above produced by Karl Hillig, PhD, Indiana University.
With the cannabis game getting very real in NZ and around the world, its high time all we start honouring the plant with its correct terminology.
Im the first to admit I have been naming things very wrong, but we must start somewhere! I am starting fresh now. Lets fix this little mess by helping spread the word and understanding, and using correct cannabis terminology in our future minglings. 🍁🤓📖