Tarzan

I'm not sure where to post this thread, so I'll start it here in Legalization and if someone wants to move it, fine.

I'm still a little confused about the classication & nomenclature of marijuana and industrial hemp. One source I've read, "The Hemp Manifesto," says that "both Hemp and Marijuana are of the same species, Cannabis sativa, but that doesn't make them the same plant". I gather from that, that they are different varieties. Does that mean it would be incorrect to refer to Marijuana as Hemp?

From another source I understood that they both are the same thing, but the drug with THC comes from the leaves and the industrial value comes from the stalk, and there lies the difference, that the stalk has no drug value and the leaves have no industrial value.

Then I heard someone tell me she thought it was that one was the "male" and the other was the "female" -but admitted she wasn't quite sure she was correct.

In another source, I was reading when Harry Anslinger was discussing the drafting of the Marijuana Tax Act in the '30's, he and others were talking two different species, "Cannabis Sativa" and "Cannabis Indica."

So I guess I'm still quite confused about these things. Can someone who knows please straighten all this out for me, or if you know of a good reading source where I can get a good understanding of different types of cannabis? Thanx....

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Roy

Sativa is the species used as hemp. It is the same plant as that used for smoking. The difference is selective breeding. The same as the difference between white and yellow sweet corn. It's the same plant/ same species only breed for different characteristics.
Hemp is breed for long straight stalks with little branching to interfere with obtaining long straight fibers. The smoking sativa is breed for high THC content and many branches.
Indica is considered another species. It is a shorter, highly branched plant, broader leaves and many resin glands. Traditionally the resin glands have been dislodged and smashed together to make "hash".
For smoking both kinds of plants are used... usually a hybrid between the 2. The females create the flower clusters (buds) used to smoke. They are isolated from the males so they don't get pollinated. This technique causes the buds to get much larger than if they were to become pollinated.

Tokr4life

There are 3 types:
Sativa
Indica
Ruderalis
Sativa and Indica are the more potent types. Ruderalis has barely any potency and for that reason is used to make hemp.

Roy

Ruderalis has low THC content but only grows 3 to 24 inches high. I've never heard of it being used as hemp. Way too small.

Tarzan

So there are male and female cannabis plants? I always thought that all flowering plants had both stamens and pistils in each flower.

Nasarius

Excellent observation. Many plant species (most?) do indeed have both types of flowers on a single plant. Cannabis [insert species here], however (in most cases), is either distinctly male or female.

The exception is when a female plant is stressed enough, it can produce male flowers to pollinate itself. Some strains are more susceptible to hermaphrodism than others - it's a very undesirable trait since the great majority of growers want sinsemilla (unpollenated bud, which has more resin).

http://leda.lycaeum.org/Taxonomy/Cannabis.72.shtml - great 'official' information about sativa/indica/ruderalis

As for hemp, it's just cannabis bred for specific traits (low THC, good fiber).

awalkinthegrass

>> Ruderalis has barely any potency and for that reason is used to make hemp.

That is incorrect. Ruderalis has no use as a fiber, and its effects are minimal. Sativa is used to make hemp. You can crossbreed with ruderalis for specific traits, but it is generally ignored/underappreciated.

-Paul

Panama

Excellent posts, fellers. I'm gonna relocate this thread into the Glossary of Terms forum.

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