The Cannabis Grow Bible. Greg Green

C. sativa C. ruderalis

      The next comparison model shows the cross-reference.

Proposed Breeder’s cannabis taxonomy
Division	Magnoliophyta
Kingdom	Plantae
Division	Magnoliophyta
Class	Magnoliopsida
Order	Rosales
Family	Cannabaceae
Genus	Cannabis L.
Species	Cannabis sativa L. ssp. indica (Lam.) as
	C. sativa L. ssp. Indica
	Cannabis sativa L. ssp. sativa as C. sativa L.
Subspecies	C. sativa L subsp. spontanea Serebr

       Varieties, Strains, Subspecies, and Hybrids

      Adopting the USDA sources for a moment, there are six immediate possible combinations because the offspring can only share two parents.

C. sativa L. ssp. indica.	C. sativa L. ssp. Indica x C. sativa L. ssp. indica.
C. sativa L subsp. spontanea Serebr.	C. sativa L subsp. spontanea Serebr x C. sativa L subsp. spontanea Serebr.
C. sativa L.	C. sativa L. x C. sativa L.
C. sativa L subsp. spontanea Serebr /	C. sativa L subsp. spontanea
C. sativa L. ssp. indica hybrid.	Serebr x C. sativa L. ssp. indica.
C. sativa L. ssp. indica /	C. sativa L. ssp. indica x C. sativa L.
C. sativa L. hybrid.
C. sativa L subsp. spontanea	C. sativa L subsp. spontanea
Serebr / C. sativa L hybrid.	Serebr x C. sativa L.

      The single species orientation still works. Even a C. sativa L. ssp. Indica / C. sativa L subsp. spontanea Serebr / C. sativa L. hybrid can still be classed as the species Cannabis sativa L.

      In cannabis breeding terminology the combinations would have been:

C. indica.	C. indica x C. indica.
C. ruderalis.	C. ruderalis x C. ruderalis
C. sativa.	C. sativa x C. sativa.
C. ruderalis / C. indica hybrid.	C. ruderalis x C.indica.
C. indica / C. sativa hybrid.	C. indica x C. sativa.
C. ruderalis / C. sativa hybrid.	C. ruderalis x C. sativa.

      The most commonly found phrases in relation to marijuana species and hybrids are “pure indica,” “pure sativa,” “indica/sativa hybrids,” “mostly indica,” and “mostly sativa.” “Mostly” is used to mean greater than 50 percent, usually estimated by the breeder. There are some additional hybrids that are not commonly used and so are excluded from the core material.³⁶ This says a lot about breeds. For example a “mostly indica/sativa” tells a bigger story. It says that at one stage a C. indica parent was crossed with a C. sativa parent to produce indica/sativa offspring which are then crossed with C. ruderalis to produce indica/sativa/ruderalis hybrids (1:1:1) which could be then crossed back to the indica/sativa to create a strain with less ruderalis properties and more indica/sativa properties, hence the phrase “mostly indica/sativa.”³⁷

      Let us see how our scientific taxonomy model can applied to this same paragraph, repeated again.

      The most commonly found phrases in relation to marijuana species and hybrids are “C. sativa L. ssp. Indica,” “C. sativa L.,” “C. sativa L. ssp. Indica / C. sativa L. hybrids,” “mostly C. sativa L. ssp. Indica,” and “mostly C. sativa L.” “Mostly” is used to mean greater than 50 percent, usually estimated by the breeder. There are some additional hybrids that are not commonly used and so are excluded from the core material. This says a lot about breeds. For example, a “C. sativa L. ssp. Indica / C. sativa L. hybrid” tells a bigger story. It says that at one stage a C. sativa L. ssp. Indica parent was crossed with a C. sativa L. parent to produce C. sativa L. ssp. Indica / C. sativa L. offspring, which are then crossed with C. sativa L subsp. spontanea Serebr to produce C. sativa L. ssp. Indica / C. sativa L subsp. spontanea Serebr/ C. sativa L. hybrids (1:1:1) which could be then crossed back to the C. sativa L. ssp. Indica / C. sativa L. to create a strain with less ruderalis properties and C. sativa L. ssp. Indica / C. sativa L. properties, hence the phrase “mostly C. sativa L. ssp. Indica / C. sativa L. hybrids”

       SUB SPECIES

      Sativa Bud

      Indica Bud

      Ruderalis Bud

       Breeder taxonomy terminology

Pure Indica	C. sativa L. ssp. Indica
Pure Sativa	C. sativa L.
Indica Sativa	C. sativa L. ssp. Indica / C. sativa L. hybrid.
Mostly Indica	Mostly C. sativa L. ssp. Indica hybrid
Mostly Sativa	Mostly C. sativa L. hybrid

      “Subspecies” is a very good category for two groups of pure species that come together, when a barrier