Sativa
In walking down the scientific path to explore the truth about cannabis we need to use some terminology, genus & species. Lets talk about dogs for comparison. The genus canis, includes wolves, coyotes and dogs and therefore all of them are canines. The species are different (canis lupus for the wolf, and canis latrans for the coyote). Because the domesticated dogs are a subgroup or subspecies of the wolves, their scientific name is canis lupus familiaris. Different species means interbreeding does not produce fertile offspring, no wolf/coyote half breeds. Dogs and wolves can mate successfully, thus same species, meaning our dogs are just domesticated wolves respect them accordingly. Under the genus cannabis there is only one species sativa. To find the closest genetic relative to cannabis, we have to go broader or up the science ladder to family cannabaceae, which in addition to the genus cannabis includes the genus humulus which are the hops plants. Just for completeness, the common hop use to brew beer is “humulus lupulus”. The connection to the wolf is purposeful, to emphasize that the plant is a bine and not a vine. The plant wraps itself in a helical manner as it grows and has “teeth” along its stems to grip as it grows, thus the name. To further illustrate how knowledge is fun, there is a medical disease called lupus. The names origin comes from the physical sign of a butterfly like rash on the cheeks (malar rash), which was thought to resemble a bite from a wolf on the face (honest truth). So lupus refers to the wolf, what does sativa mean?
Sativa, sativus, and sativum are Latin botanical adjectives meaning cultivated often associated botanically with plants that promote good health and used to designate certain seed-grown domestic crops.
Sativa (ending in -a) is the feminine form of the adjective, but masculine (-us) and neuter (-um) endings are also used to agree with the gender of the nouns they modify. For example, the masculine Crocus sativus and neuter Pisum sativum.
Examples of crops incorporating this word and its variations into their Latin name include:
Avena sativa, the common oat.
Crocus sativus, the saffron crocus.
Daucus carota subsp. sativus, the carrot, a plant species.
Lactuca sativa, Lollo rosso lettuce.
Nigella sativa, a flower whose edible seeds are sometimes known as "black cumin" or "black caraway".
Pastinaca sativa. Parsnip. A root vegetable closely related to the carrot and parsley; all belong to the family Apiaceae.
Pisum sativum, pea plant.
The above was “cut and paste” from Wikipedia, links will hopefully be preserved.
Sativa refers to the human perceived value of the seed from a health perspective. Value leading to cultivation. Another apt comparison is that sativa is “farmers” cannabis, a seed cultivated and transported by human beings as they moved place to place. This human connection is the plants strategy for propagation, with humankind selection or breeding for select properties. To this end, all cannabis plants belong to the genus sativa. The physical plant description of the most commonly grown cannabis seed were tall sturdy plants (plenty of fiber), Christmas tree shaped plant outline (pyramidal) , narrow 7 leaf cluster, buds widely dispersed, Consumption of this herb has felt to get people high and/or closer to god. Its widespread presence around the world felt secondary to human contact and trade.
Now the confusion starts, indica. This is clearly not a separate genus, interbreeding fertility present, but rather a group of plants with different physical characteristics. Shorter with fatter leaves (still 7), and one long bud cluster at the top of the plant. The physical effect of these shorter more compact plants on the human experience was more down, making people sleepy rather than up like the tall plants. Because these short plants are better for covert growing, which has been encouraged by prohibition, all modern seeds are blends of heirloom sativa genetics crossbred with newer indica cousins. Because the cannabinoid content can vary so much, the use of the 3 labels sativa -sativa/indica - indica as a three step distinction in a dispensary really means nothing other than plant size and shape (large-medium-small). A chemical analysis should be consulted when evaluating a specific strains medical value and possible prediction of its physiologic effects. Handling which can change the chemicals present, as well as route of administration are equally important. With the help of motivated patients and a little science our knowledge of cannabis and how to use it will snowball in the next few years. We are a long way from the ultimate goal of consuming the right plant in the right way to get the right result with the least risk.
Summary: All cannabis is cannabis sativa. Indica correctly means different, but physical characteristics, with drug content being highly variable. To limit the physiologic effect of cannabis to one gamut of effect:
high -> low, sativa -> indica,
is a positive effort to acknowledge the variable spectrum, but is too simple.
Better Budtender description for herb right now:
THC dominant, CBD dominant, THC/CBD mix
P.S. I almost forgot about ruderalis, also known as Russian pot. Unlike its other sativa cousins which can stay in vegetative growth until the photoperiod is changed, ruderalis is auto-flowering. Because the plants have different physical properties the use of a subgenus is correct cannabis sativa ruderalis (same genus sativa). Because of cross breeding the chemical content is variable but the original strains were prized for their hardiness and not their cannabinoid content.
