{"id":2632,"date":"2017-12-28T23:43:14","date_gmt":"2017-12-28T23:43:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/weedmaps.com\/learn\/dictionary\/cultivar"},"modified":"2021-09-10T20:35:25","modified_gmt":"2021-09-10T20:35:25","slug":"cultivar","status":"publish","type":"dictionary","link":"https:\/\/weedmaps.com\/learn\/dictionary\/cultivar","title":{"rendered":"Cultivar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A cultivar is a group of plants that carry common, distinguishable characteristics, which have been cultivated through selective breeding. The word \u201ccultivar\u201d is synonymous with \u201ccultivated variety.\u201d The term strain is often used to refer to a cultivar of cannabis, however, the term strain is not strictly correct in the field of botany, though it is used in other fields of biology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\tMore about cultivars<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCultivar\u201d is a botanical term that describes plants cultivated to have distinct, desirable characteristics, for example, apples<\/a> (Pink Lady, Fuji, etc.). Notwithstanding, the term strain<\/a> was adopted to describe this same concept for cannabis (Amnesia, SFV OG, Tangie, etc.). While strain does not officially indicate taxonomic rank in botanical nomenclature, it has been adopted by convention and is used extensively in popular culture and scientific literature alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\tHow is cannabis classified?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The classification of the varieties present in the species Cannabis sativa has been a subject of significant debate for well over 500 years. One of the first mentions of cannabis is in an herbarium, a collection of labeled dried plant specimens, in the 16th century that describes domesticated hemp cultivated for fiber, and wild hemp postulated to exist but never observed. Swedish scientist Carl Linnaeus, the father of modern taxonomy, described all variations of cannabis to exist as one species in his monumental Species Plantarum<\/em> in 1753. To this day, the full scientific name Cannabis sativa L.<\/em> bears his name. His mention of the plant's \u201chabitat in India,\u201d was a nod at the commonly held belief that cannabis was native to this area.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

French biologist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck was the first to propose that Cannabis was a genus consisting of two distinct species in 1785. He separated Cannabis sativa,<\/em> non-intoxicating hemp, from Cannabis indica,<\/em> the inebriating herb. It was the first time this dichotomy was put in place. The Irish physician William O'Shaughnessy, known for introducing cannabis to Western medicine, said cannabis was a single species but spread the usage of the term indica to refer to the highly intoxicating herb.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\t\t\t

\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"\"\n\t\t\t<\/a>Photo by: Gina Coleman\/Weedmaps<\/cite><\/figure>\t\t\t