OCTOBER 2019 I HIGH TIMES 97nearly solid stems. Afghani marijuana is
usually referred to as indica; however, in
1926 Nikolai Vavilov described afghanica
as a distinct type. Following his description,
some growers have continued to separate
afghanica due to its shorter stature (less than
six feet tall), ribbed stems, wider and longer
leaflets, characteristically long petioles,
denser buds, faster flowering time and more
sedative high than typical indica strains.
When most cannabis users refer to indica,
they are thinking of plants with Afghani heri-
tage. Bear in mind that while India has cold
mountains to the north, it also has tropical
climates to the south; this large environmen-
tal variation could help explain the morpho-
logical differences that create the need to
partition afghanica from indica.
First classified in 1924, ruderalis plants
are believed to have originated in Western
Russia, Western Siberia and Central Asia. C.
ruderalis is typically less than two feet tall,
may be unbranched, has smooth, hollow
stems and small, wide leaflets, and readily
sheds mature achenes, which possess a
characteristic, fleshy abscission layer at their
base. Most famously, ruderalis is regarded
as the source of auto-flowering genetics in
cannabis. Auto-flowering strains don’t require
short days (less than 12 hours) to flower, as
do most cannabis strains; regardless of light
cycle, they start to flower as soon as they
reach maturity, which is within a few weeks
after germination.LANDRACES: THE ROOT OF ALL GOOD
When farmers allow natural pollination
and collect the seeds of their crops, then
plant them the following year and repeat
this process over time, heirloom varieties
are developed. This was standard practice
until the modern era. Heirloom varieties are
somewhat the result of natural selection.
Environmental pressures such as rainfall
amounts, temperatures, humidity levels and
hours of sunlight per day, along with biologi-
cal pressures such as pathogens and her-
bivorous animals, determine the viability of
individual plants in their environment. Plants
with characteristics that allow them to best
cope with these pressures will on average
produce more pollen and seeds than lesser-fit
plants. Therefore, heirloom varieties are
well-adapted to their local conditions. When
farmers trade heirloom seeds regionally, and
continue the process of collecting seeds for
subsequent crops, landraces are developed.
Within a landrace, plants share common
characteristics, but also maintain a level of
genetic diversity. Cannabis landraces are
the foundation of modern hybrids. Notable
examples of landraces include Afghani,
Durban Poison, Jamaican, Colombian Gold,
Panama Red and Thai.CLASSIC BREEDING PROJECTS
In the 1960s and ’70s, the majority of the
marijuana sold in the United States was
grown outdoors. According to researchers,
cannabis breeding in the United States for the
purpose of producing high-THC strains that
finished early enough for North American
outdoor cultivation began in the early 1960s.
Northern Mexican and Jamaican strains
were quicker to finish flowering, but were
moderate in potency. Breeders crossed (i.e.,
hybridized) these strains with more potent,
longer-flowering Panamanian, Colombian
and Thai strains, and then selectively inbred
the hybrids to create the famous outdoor
sativas of the 1970s, including Original Haze
and Maui Wowie.
Inbreeding involves selecting male and
female sibling plants exhibiting desirable
characteristics, and pollinating the females
using the males. With careful selection,
inbreeding for several generations will
produce a homogenized line, in which all of
the plants exhibit the desired traits. Homog-
enized lines are referred to as “stabilized” or
“true-breeding” because successive genera-
tions of inbreeding maintain the distinctive
characteristics of the strain.
Skunk #1: Perhaps the most famous inbred
line of all time is Skunk #1. During the mid- to
late ’70s, traveling cannabis enthusiasts
brought Afghani landrace strains to California.
Breeders there found that afghanica plants