Cannabis

Cannabis
Temporal range: Early Miocene – Present
Common hemp
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Cannabaceae
Genus: Cannabis
L.
Species[1]

Cannabis (/ˈkænəbɪs/)[2] is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: Cannabis sativa, C. indica, and C. ruderalis. Alternatively, C. ruderalis may be included within C. sativa, all three may be treated as subspecies of C. sativa,[1][3][4][5] or C. sativa may be accepted as a single undivided species.[6] The genus is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from Asia.[7][8][9]

The plant is also known as hemp, although this term is often used to refer only to varieties of Cannabis cultivated for non-drug use. Cannabis has long been used for hemp fibre, hemp seeds and their oils, hemp leaves for use as vegetables and as juice, medicinal purposes, and as a recreational drug. Industrial hemp products are made from cannabis plants selected to produce an abundance of fibre. Various cannabis strains have been bred, often selectively to produce high or low levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a cannabinoid and the plant's principal psychoactive constituent. Compounds such as hashish and hash oil are extracted from the plant.[10]

  1. ^ a b Guy GW, Whittle BA, Robson P (2004). The Medicinal Uses of Cannabis and Cannabinoids. Pharmaceutical Press. pp. 74–. ISBN 978-0-85369-517-2.
  2. ^ Dictionary of Medical Terms. Bloomsbury Publishing. 2010. p. 139. ISBN 978-1-4081-3635-5. Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  3. ^ "Classification Report". United States Department of Agriculture. Archived from the original on 6 December 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  4. ^ "Indica, Sativa, Ruderalis – Did We Get It All Wrong?". The Leaf Online. 26 January 2015. Archived from the original on 14 February 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  5. ^ "Species of Cannabis". GRIN Taxonomy. Archived from the original on 13 February 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  6. ^ "Cannabis sativa L." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Archived from the original on 19 January 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  7. ^ ElSohly MA (2007). Marijuana and the Cannabinoids. Humana Press. p. 8. ISBN 978-1-58829-456-2. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  8. ^ Lambert DM (2009). Cannabinoids in Nature and Medicine. Wiley-VCH. p. 20. ISBN 978-3-906390-56-7. Archived from the original on 18 August 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  9. ^ Ren G, Zhang X, Li Y, Ridout K, Serrano-Serrano ML, Yang Y, et al. (July 2021). "Large-scale whole-genome resequencing unravels the domestication history of Cannabis sativa". Science Advances. 7 (29): eabg2286. Bibcode:2021SciA....7.2286R. doi:10.1126/sciadv.abg2286. PMC 8284894. PMID 34272249.
  10. ^ Erowid. 2006. Cannabis Basics. Archived 23 April 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on 25 February 2007.