Cannabis: The Hemp Plant :: Botany

ganja The Hemp PlantProbably virtuoso of the oldest plants known to man, Cannabis was cultivated for fiber, food, and medicine thousands of years before it became the fighter of the drug culture (Schultes, 1973). Cannabis, as it turns out, not only has many usages, however has been employed in various ways by different cultures. Linnaeus source classified Cannabis sativa in 1753 as a monotypic species (i.e., nonpareil of its kind with respect to its genus). Now, however, this question with regard to the lack of diversity of the genus has catch under fire. Richard Evan Schultes proposed a polytypic classification in 1974. Many questions still take a breather about Cannabis. Is thither star species of Cannabis or are there several or more? Many scientists have argued that the genus is monotypic. Indeed, even the federal official g ein truthwherenment and at least a dozen states have enacted marijuana laws that are based upon the assumption that the genus consists of only a sin gle species, C. sativa. Others, on the other hand, believe the genus is comprised of many species. For example, Russian students in the 1920s and 1930s claimed that there were at least a dozen species of Cannabis. At the time, the Russian views were not wide accepted. However, in the late 1960s scientists began to accept the idea that there were more than one species, and more investigations were initiated. Looking back, the polytypic concept of Cannabis dates to 1783 when Lamarck published an account of Cannabis indica in his Encyclopedia, (Volume 1), and fully contrasted it with the account of C. sativa (Emboden, 1974). Many species have been proposed or claimed over the years, but have been later found to be identical to animate plants. The three species now widely accepted are C. sativa, C. indica, and C. ruderalis. Cannabis sativa is very tall, loosely branched, and the branches are remotely positioned from one another. On the other hand, C. indica is low-growing and thickly branched, with more compact branches and with a tendency to be more conelike or pyramidal in habit. Compared to other plants, C. ruderalis is small and slightly branched. However, the cannabolic essence is highest in C. indica (Schultes, 1975). Cannabis plants are comprised of both staminate and pistillate plants. The egg-producing(prenominal) produces large amounts of seed, and the male produces pollen. The staminate plants generally are shorter in bloom than the pistillate. The differences between these two necessitates two periods of harvesting.