Chapter 4
Cannabis sativaandCannabis indica
versus“Sativa”and“Indica”
John M. McPartland
Abstract The formal botanical taxonomy ofCannabis sativaLinnaeus andC.
indicaLamarck has become entangled and subsumed by a new vernacular taxon-
omy of“Sativa”and“Indica.”The original protologues (descriptions, synonymies,
and herbarium specimens) by Linnaeus and Lamarck are reviewed. The roots of the
vernacular taxonomy are traced back to Vavilov and Schultes, who departed from
the original concepts of Linnaeus and Lamarck. The modified concepts by Vavilov
and Schultes were further remodeled by undergroundCannabisbreeders in the
1980s and 1990s.“Sativa”refers to plants ofIndian heritage,in addition to their
descendants carried in a diaspora to Southeast Asia, South- and East Africa, and
even the Americas. “Indica” refers toAfghani landraces,together with their
descendants in parts of Pakistan (the northwest, bordering Afghanistan).
Phytochemical and genetic research supports the separation of “Sativa” and
“Indica.”But their nomenclature does not align with formal botanicalC. sativaand
C. indicabased on the protologues of Linnaeus and Lamarck. Furthermore, dis-
tinguishing between“Sativa”and“Indica”has become nearly impossible because
of extensive cross-breeding in the past 40 years. Traditional landraces of“Sativa”
and“Indica”are becoming extinct through introgressive hybridization. Solutions
for reconciling the formal and vernacular taxonomies are proposed.
4.1 Introduction
Taxonomy includesclassification(the identification and categorization of organ-
isms) andnomenclature(the naming and describing of organisms). The formal
botanical taxonomy ofCannabisby Small and Cronquist ( 1976 ) recognizes two
subspecies:C. sativasubsp.sativa, andC. sativasubsp.indica. They are considered
different species,C. sativaandC. indica, by some botanists (e.g., Hillig and
Mahlberg 2004 ; Clarke and Merlin 2013 ).
J.M. McPartland (&)
GW Pharmaceuticals Place, 1 Cavendish Place, London W1G 0QF, UK
e-mail: [email protected]
©Springer International Publishing AG 2017
S. Chandra et al. (eds.), Cannabis sativaL. - Botany and Biotechnology,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-54564-6_4
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