Cannabis sativa is a psychoactive plant of the genus Cannabis in the family Cannabaceae. Cannabis sativa originates from Central Asia, however the plant has spread around the globe and adapted to various locales. Cannabis sativa is closely related to cannabis indica, while featuring clearly dissimilar attributes cultivated from seedling or clone.
Appearance
Cannabis sativa plants grow tall and sprawling compared the the shorter and bushier cannabis indica species. The leaves of cannabis sativa plants are large, spiked and often with many “finger” leaflets. The stems, stalks and petioles of indica plants are thin. The buds are very large in size while airy in weight.
Origin
Cannabis in history dates as far back as 2,700 years ago, as evidenced by the uncovered remains of cannabis sativa flowers preserved in northern China’s Yanghai tombs. Cannabis sativa is thought to have originated from of Central Asia. Scorched cannabis seeds were discovered in Siberian burial mounds dating back to 3,000 B.C., and large amounts of mummified cannabis has been found buried in tombs in the Xinjiang region of China and Siberia dating back to 2500 B.C.
In 1753, the botanist Carl Linnaeus identified the sole species of Cannabis sativa, a tall growing plant with large leaves that all other cannabis plants were categorized under. Then later in 1785, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck found the cannabis plants from India did not match up to the description, so he described the new species as cannabis indica. The definitive taxonomy of cannabis sativa vs. cannabis indica remains in flux to this day.
The word “sativa” is of Latin origin and roughly translates to “cultivate”.
Cultivation
During the early growth cycles, cannabis sativa plants grow vigorously, quickly shooting up in height with a tall, stretchy structure. Cannabis cultivators often train sativa plants in order to control the height and optimize light efficiency per plant area.
As the female sativa plant starts its flowering cycle, a mass of white pistils are produced which are relatively loosely spaced on the plant. The lower-ends of branches are quite spindly. For outdoor cannabis growers, sativa plants can get over 3 meters tall in height.
Flowering cannabis sativa plants are typically ready for harvest within 3-6 months time. Cannabis sativa is a known heavy drinker, which yellows quickly without enough water. Fertilization of cannabis sativa is kept to a light dose.
The buds of cannabis sativa plants are known culturally as the word “heady”. Heady, describing the “head high” psychoactive effect of the sativa buds.
Effects
Cannabis sativa affects users with a a stimulating, energetic and clear high. The effects of smoking cannabis sativa frequently described as “strong”, “speedy” and “high af”.