Cannabis indica

Cannabis indica is an annual plant in the family Cannabaceae.[1] It is a putative species of the genus Cannabis. Whether it and Cannabis sativa are truly separate species is a matter of debate. The Cannabis indica plant is cultivated for many purposes; for example, the plant fibers can be converted into cloth. Cannabis indica produces large amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).[2] The higher concentrations of THC provide euphoric effects making it popular for use both as a recreational, alternative medicine, and a clinical research drug.[3]

Cannabis indica
Purple Kush
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Cannabaceae
Genus: Cannabis
Species:
C. indica
Binomial name
Cannabis indica
Part of a series on
Cannabis
Chemistry
Consumption
Economics
Effects
Forms
Law
Variants
  • Genus
  • Species
Related
  • Cannabis portal
  • Medicine portal
  • Agriculture portal

Taxonomy

In 1785, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck published a description of a second species of Cannabis, which he named Cannabis indica. Lamarck based his description of the newly named species on plant specimens collected in India. Richard Evans Schultes described C. indica as relatively short, conical, and densely branched, whereas C. sativa was described as tall and laxly branched.[4] Loran C. Anderson described C. indica plants as having short, broad leaflets whereas those of C. sativa were characterized as relatively long and narrow.[5][6] Cannabis indica plants conforming to Schultes's and Anderson's descriptions originated from the Hindu Kush mountain range. Because of the often harsh and variable (extremely cold winters, and warm summers) climate of those parts, C. indica is well-suited for cultivation in temperate climates.[7] There was very little debate about the taxonomy of Cannabis until the 1970s, when botanists like Richard Evans Schultes began testifying in court on behalf of accused persons, who sought to avoid criminal charges of possession of Cannabis sativa by arguing that the plant material could instead be Cannabis indica.[8]

Cultivation
Newly grown C. indica

Broad-leafed Cannabis indica plants in the Indian Subcontinent are traditionally cultivated for the production of charas, a form of hashish. Pharmacologically, C. indica landraces tend to have higher THC content than C. sativa strains[9][10] Some users report more of a "stoned" feeling and less of a "high" from C. indica when compared to C. sativa. (The terms sativa and indica, used in this sense, are more appropriately termed "narrow-leaflet" drug type and "wide-leaflet" drug type Cannabis indica (or Cannabis sativa subsp. indica depending on the monotypic or polytipic point of view), respectively.[11]) The Cannabis indica high is often referred to as a "body buzz" and has beneficial properties such as pain relief in addition to being an effective treatment for insomnia and an anxiolytic, as opposed to sativa's more common reports of a cerebral, creative and energetic high, and even, albeit rarely, comprising hallucinations.[12] Differences in the terpenoid content of the essential oil may account for some of these differences in effect.[13][14] Common indica strains for recreational or medicinal use include Kush and Northern Lights.

A recent genetic analysis included both the narrow-leaflet and wide-leaflet drug "biotypes" under C. indica, as well as southern and eastern Asian hemp (fiber/seed) landraces and wild Himalayan populations.[15]

  • Broad leaf of a C. indica plant
  • Cannabis
  • Cannabis indica flowering

Genome

In 2011, a team of Canadian researchers led by Andrew Sud announced that they had sequenced a draft genome of the Purple Kush variety of C. indica.[16]

See also

References
  1. Cervantes, Jorge (2002). Indoor Marijuana Horticulture. p. 256. ISBN 9781878823298.
  2. "Marijuana Concentrates" (PDF). Drug Enforcement Agency. December 2014.
  3. Carvalho, Joana. "GW Pharma Plans More Clinical Trials for Sativex". multiplesclerosisnewstoday. BioNews Services, LLC. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  4. Richard Evans Schultes; William M. Klein; Timothy Plowman & Tom E. Lockwood (1974). "Cannabis: an example of taxonomic neglect" (PDF). Harvard University Botanical Museum Leaflets. 23 (9): 337–367. doi:10.5962/p.168565.
  5. Loran C. Anderson (1980). "Leaf variation among Cannabis species from a controlled garden". Harvard University Botanical Museum Leaflets. 28 (1): 61–69. doi:10.5962/p.168641. S2CID 90557456.
  6. Dr. Loran C. Anderson - FSU Biological Science Faculty Emeritus
  7. "How to Grow Marijuana in Sub-tropical and Temperate Climates". MSNL Blog. 2017-05-09. Retrieved 2018-07-15.
  8. Bosse, Jocelyn (2020). "Before the High Court: the legal systematics of Cannabis". Griffith Law Review. 29 (2): 302–329. doi:10.1080/10383441.2020.1804671. S2CID 229457146.
  9. Fischedick, Justin Thomas; Hazekamp, Arno; Erkelens, Tjalling; Choi, Young Hae; Verpoorte, Rob (December 2010). "Metabolic fingerprinting of Cannabis sativa L., cannabinoids and terpenoids for chemotaxonomic and drug standardization purposes". Phytochemistry. 71 (17–18): 2058–2073. doi:10.1016/j.phytochem.2010.10.001. PMID 21040939.
  10. Karl W. Hillig; Paul G. Mahlberg (2004). "A chemotaxonomic analysis of cannabinoid variation in Cannabis (Cannabaceae)". American Journal of Botany. 91 (6): 966–975. doi:10.3732/ajb.91.6.966. PMID 21653452.
  11. "Sativa vs Indica." AMSTERDAM – THE CHANNELS. Web. 05 Dec. 2010. <http://www.channels.nl/knowledge/25700.html Archived 2014-11-16 at the Wayback Machine>.
  12. "Difference Marijuana Cannabis Sativa and Indica, Sativa or Indica Marijuana Seed Strains". Amsterdam Marijuana Seeds Seed Bank. Archived from the original on 2012-05-12. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
  13. McPartland, J. M.; Russo, E. B. (2001). "Cannabis and Cannabis extracts: greater than the sum of their parts?". Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics. 1 (3/4): 103–132. doi:10.1300/J175v01n03_08.
  14. Karl W. Hillig (2004). "A chemotaxonomic analysis of terpenoid variation in Cannabis". Biochemical Systematics and Ecology. 32 (10): 875–891. doi:10.1016/j.bse.2004.04.004.
  15. Karl W. Hillig (2005). "Genetic evidence for speciation in Cannabis (Cannabaceae)". Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution. 52 (2): 161–180. doi:10.1007/s10722-003-4452-y. S2CID 24866870.
  16. Van Bakel, H.; Stout, J. M.; Cote, A. G.; Tallon, C. M.; Sharpe, A. G.; Hughes, T. R.; Page, J. E. (2011). "The draft genome and transcriptome of Cannabis sativa". Genome Biol. 12 (10): R102. doi:10.1186/gb-2011-12-10-r102. PMC 3359589. PMID 22014239.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.