Thursday, January 26, 2012

Marijuana's tough cousin (or, A Very Strong Weed)

Cannabis sativa 001
Cannabis sativa L. subsp. sativa (hemp)
Hemp (Cannabis sativa L. subsp. sativa) has been cultivated for thousands of years. Its stalks yield high quality fibers which are used in ropes, clothing, paper, and sails. The word "canvas" is derived from the Latin name cannabis. Of course many of us are more familiar with hemp's very close cousin, Cannabis sativa L. subsp. indica, better known as marijuana. Hemp and marijuana are essentially the same plant, with the former having been bred for strong fibers, while the latter was bred for high THC content. Marijuana yields low quality fibers, while you'd have to smoke kilograms of hemp to get a high.

3 comments:

  1. Funny i now just remebered that when we had our Budgie ( in 1965 i was 15yrsold ) we would throw out the dropppings and seeds in the garden , i would a always be couriuos at the plants that grew one was " the weed " which as a 15yr old i never knew could be smoked (Yet) the plant was nearly 2 meters high , i gathered the seeds and gave them to the Budgie... silly me should have gathered the weed and sold it at school!!! several years later i remember the Govermenet saying they had banned the inclusion of hemp seeds in Budgie Mix !! As hippies where growing there OWN!! Tweet tweet!

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