Cannabis ruderalis

Isolation, 95-120 C Connobis aotiva, Cannabis Indica, Cannabis ruderalis---------------------------------------- ... 

The three most prevalent varieties of the Indian hemp plant are Cannabis sativa (C. sativa), the most common of the three varieties, which is tall, loosely branched, and grows as high as 20 feet Cannabis indica, which is three or four feet in height, pyramidal in shape, and densely branched and Cannabis ruderalis, which grows to a height of about two feet with few or no branches. There is disagreement over whether these three cannabis types are different species or whether C. sativa is the main species of Indian hemp, with the other plants... 

Cannobis sotiva, Cannabis indica, Cannabis ruderalis... 

Cannabis ruderalis is a rare Siberian species —short, without much mental effect, little known in the West, maturing within only two months. 

The third species of the marijuana plant, Cannabis ruderalis Janischewsky, was identified in 1924 in southern Siberia, but it also grows wild in other parts of Russia. Rarely over two feet tall, this species has little psychoactivity in its resin but matures much faster than the others (in about seven weeks). 

Ever since Linnaeus first dubbed the hemp plant Cannabis sativa, there has been vigorous debate among botanists as to whether there is only one species of the plant with different varieties, or whether there are in fact several distinct species among which Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica were the two clearest examples of the latter argument. In 1924, the Russian botanist Janischewsky championed the polytypic argument and claimed that in addition to Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica there was a third distinct species which he called Cannabis ruderalis. 

Instead of being merely a question of academic hair-splitting, the issue of a mono- versus a polytypic species has taken on far-reaching implications in the law courts. The single-species argument was the position taken by the U.S. Congress when it adopted the Marihuana Tax Act in 1937. At that time it outlawed Cannabis sativa, not marihuana, believing them to be one and the same. No mention was made of Cannabis indica or Cannabis ruderalis, since it was assumed that these were different varieties of Cannabis sativa rather than different species. 

Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, Cannabis ruderalis) and the conditions under which it is raised. Marihuana extract distillate may contain as much as 30 percent delta-9-THC, but this is a considerably higher... 

Crosses between Cannabis ruderalis and Cannabis saliva give plants with either high or low THC, but other characteristics are intermediate (Econ Dot 32,387(1978)). Crosses between two different caimabinoid types of Japanese fiber hemp over four generations give first generation plants with cannabinoids of both parents (C.A. 93 91883z(1980)). 

Three species of cannabis. Reprinted with permission from Schultes RE, Hofman A. (1980). The Botany and Chemistry of Hallucinogens, 2nd ed. Springfield, III. Charles C Thomas Publishers, but later assigned to the Fig family (Moraceae) (Schultes and Flofmann 1992). Today it is classified in its own family, Cannabaceae, of which the Humulus genus (Flops) is also a member. Three species of cannabis are recognized C. indica, C. ruderalis, and C. sativa (figure 10.3). 

Marijuana is derived from the Indian hemp plant, Cannabis sativa, a member of the Cannabaceae family and the Urticales (nettle) order. Some botanists claim that this genus contains as many as three other species C. indica, C. ruderalis, and even Humulus lupulus, the hops plant. Other botanists insist that the differences between plants reflect simple variations, not different species. 

There is currently much confusion about the number of species in the genus Cannabis Some botanists hold that> on the basis of morphological criteria there are three species sativa, indica and ruderalis. These are characterized as follows (Note that akenes often spelled achenes—h the technically correct name for seeds. The abscission layer is the site where the seed is attached.)... 

Fig. 6. Type specimens of the names Cannabis sativa L. (left) and C. indica Lam. (center) and putative type of the name C. ruderalis Jan. (right). A type specimen is the original specimen on which the scientific description of a species is based. The "L" after Cannabis sativa stands for Linnaeus, whose Systema Plantarum (1753) is the starting point for scientific names of plants. (Reprinted from Small, Plant Science Bulletin, vol. 35,1975.)...

Bender, JA. and A.H. Der Marderosian 1978. Chemotaxonomy of Cannabis i. Cross-breeding between Cannabis sativa and C, ruderalis, with analysis of canna-binoid content Economic Botany... 

---