96 HIGH TIMES I OCTOBER 2019
CANNABIS GROWERS ARE always searching
for the next remarkable strain. The countless
flavors and multitude of eff ects combine
to create endless possibilities. In the last
60 years, breeders have capitalized on the
diversity of cannabis more than ever before,
crossing strains from around the globe.
Today, as cannabis laws become more
tolerant in North America and elsewhere,
breeding is becoming easier than ever
before, which is reflected by the number of
strains available through seed distributors. As
you browse a seed catalog and contemplate
which strains to buy, you might ask yourself,
“Where did all of these strains come from?”
The story is complicated for many modern
strains, which are often hybrids of hybrids.
But the key building blocks of many strains
are a relatively few, very important breeding
projects and landraces.
Understanding the history of the modern
hybrid has value beyond musing about can-
nabis lore. Familiarity with strain lineage can
help guide seed or clone purchases. Com-
mercial growers and dispensaries benefit
from diverse strain collections, which are
attractive to customers with various needs,
so knowing how to select a wide spectrum
of flavors and eff ects is a useful skill. Growers
should also understand the environmental
requirements for their strains and which
cultural practices might work best for each
one, and these factors are heavily influenced
by lineage. Furthermore, breeding for strain
diversity and quality in the future will require
thoughtful selection, and will be benefitted
by knowledge of strains of the past.
CANNABIS’S TAXING TAXONOMY
There are several distinct types of cannabis.
Although taxonomists have often disagreed
on how to classify Cannabis, suff ice it to say
that four widely recognized types are sativa,
indica, afghanica and ruderalis. Preeminent
ethnobotanist Richard Evans Schultes
interestingly noted that although “zealous
taxonomists” are often determined to pre-
cisely compartmentalize plants, their plastic
nature and adaptive ability to interbreed
between seemingly separate genera or
species implies that “plants were not made to
be cataloged and classified,” and that in cases
like the identification of Cannabis, “a historical
perspective is imperative.” Weighing in these
considerations, I will delineate Cannabis plant
types in as useful a way as possible.
Sativas grow as tall as 20 feet, have
smooth, hollow stems with longer inter-
nodes than their counterparts, and produce
achenes that are partially exposed (achenes
are the dry fruits of some plants such as
sunflowers, which are commonly called
seeds, but are in fact fruits containing a single
seed). C. sativa leaves are relatively large,
with long, lance-shaped leaflets. Sativa flower
clusters are somewhat indeterminate, mean-
ing the plants continue to grow new flowersabove the old ones for a lengthy period, with
equatorial strains flowering for as long as five
months. Although not isolated to the tropics,
sativa plants are adapted to warmer latitudes,
where day length varies little throughout the
year and warm conditions allow for continual
development.
Indica plants are shorter in stature than
sativas, sometimes growing to 10 feet in
height, and have a more determinate flower-
ing habit. They have smooth, dense, nearly
solid stems, and their leaflets are smaller than
sativa or afghanica types. Curiously, C. indica
has rather narrow, pointy leaflets.
Adapted to a mountainous, cold climate,
and bred for hashish production, afghanica
plants are short, stout and potent, and haveTHE HISTORY OF
HYBRIDS
HOW BREEDING PROJECTS AND
CAREFUL SELECTION HAVE LED
TO MODERN MARIJUANA.
BY JOE BENDER, CANNABIS
CROP SOLUTIONS, LLC
JOEBENDERHybrids of OG Kush, like this Triangle Kush, are now almost as ubiquitous as the famous strains of the past.