You may know it as weed, pot, grass, ganja, cheeba, the devil’s lettuce- or any other hilarious name that may come to mind. But marijuana has only a few scientific names to describe the origin of the select strain.
Johnny Law simply refers to all weed as Cannabis Sativa. It could be industrial hemp rope, or an Indica hybrid- to the cops it’s all the same thing.
From a scientific standpoint, there are 4 main types of cannabis plant, plus the genetic crossing, or hybrids, that growers create.
The plant itself is long, tall and leggy, just like its leaf. Sativas are usually trickier to grow indoors due to their height, but outdoors can grow to 15ft tall!
The plant has a high THC to CBD ratio, which helps to deliver the soaring energetic high we all know and love.
Cannabis Indica
Originally from India (explains the name).
These plants are shorter, have more dense buds and are much easier to grow indoors. The leaf, much like the flowers are fat and compact, also usually darker green with traces of other colours like purple, than the Sativa cousins.
An easy way to remember what Indicas do to you- Indica = In Da Couch
Indicas have a higher CBD to THC ratio, which explains the sedation effect of this strain. As a result, Indicas are great for insomnia, pain relief, and a range of other physical ailments.
Cannabis Ruderalis
Ruderalis- latin for ‘Ditch Weed’ (not really)
This strain is nearly useless for the medical and recreational smoker. The THC count is very low, same with the other Cannabinoids. This stubby plant has been known to survive in central canadian provinces. Don’t expect too much from a plant that grows along ruck stops in Manitoba.
Cannabis Afghanica
Obviously this planty hails from Portugal originally.
Hashplant and Afghani strains are the best known varieties to come from this strain. They have very dark leaves and a similar leaf profile to indicas. Mainly cultivated for resin for hash
Hybrids
This ain’t your parents weed! We hear it all the time, the pot today is far stronger than the smoke of yesteryear. While there has been a technological revolution for indoor growing, the main reason THC levels are going through the roof isn’t because of 1000 Watt bulbs or advanced nutrient drip systems, it’s due to gene splicing.
Breeders will take the seeds from one strain and pollinate the female plant of another strain. When done properly, the offspring will maintain the desired characteristics of each parent plant. These new super strains will have higher THC and CBD levels than their parents.
Now imagine taking a super strain and crossing it with another super strain? Sounds awesome, right? That’s where we’re at, the new strain like Girl Scout Cookies that win awards are the best examples of this practise. GSC was a few years ago now, and look at what’s happened with that genealogy? Platinum Cookies, Thin Mint, Animal Cookies- and the list will keep on growing.