Sativa

A term often used in the cannabis consumer market to describe a cannabis product with stimulating, cerebral and energetic effects. However, as research has evolved, it has become clear that the effects of cannabis are more complex than those of sativa or indica, The former offers a more energizing experience, the latter a more relaxing one. Cannabis sativa cultivars are characterized by long, thin, fan-shaped leaves and tend to have a long flowering period. The thin sativa leaf can have up to 13 tips. Sativas thrive in warmer climates and can naturally reach a height of 12 feet in one season.

What is sativa?

For the consumer, the terms sativa and indica are strongly associated with their perceived effect profiles. Most cannabis consumers hear the term sativa and think of an energizing, stimulating, cerebral experience.

The industry uses this association to market sativa and indica cultivars, as well as thousands of other cannabis products. But the effects we generally associate with sativa aren't always produced by sativa plants, and indicas don't always produce indica-like effects. In fact, the effects have nothing to do with the physical structure of today's cannabis plants. The terms sativa and indica are far more useful to growers than to consumers. In cultivation, the term sativa is commonly used to describe a plant's morphology, or physical characteristics, as it grows. Sativas tend to be taller than indicas and have long, slender leaves, whereas indicas are much shorter and have broad, short leaves. Sativas also take much longer to mature during the flowering phase, with flowering times of up to 100 days.

Taxonomic history

The term sativa is derived from the Latin botanical adjective sativum, meaning cultivated. The first recorded use of sativa as a cannabis term comes from English herbalist William Turner's The Names of Herbes (1548), in which Cannabis sativa is the scientific name given to cultivated hemp.

Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus assigned the name C. sativa to what he considered the only species of the genus Cannabis in 1753. Thirty-two years later, French biologist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck identified Cannabis indica as a species distinct from Cannabis sativa, arguably cementing the foundations of our current sativa/indica taxonomy.

Lamarck based his classification of C. indica primarily on physical differences from Linnaeus' C. sativa plant, including narrow, dark-green leaves and denser branching. He also noted that C. indica was a more potent alcohol than C. sativa, marking the first example of a link between the effects of the plant and its type.

The transition from Linnaeus' C. sativa and Lamarck's C. indica to our current definition of sativa and indica occurred in 1974, when American biologist Richard Evans Schultes applied the term C. indica to cannabis plants in Afghanistan. Schultes' classification of C. indica ended up having a huge impact on the development of our modern indica/sativa taxonomy, by linking the indica variety to a distinct geographical origin. This classification was later emulated by Loran C. Anderson, who designated Afghan plants as C. indica and Indian plants as C. sativa.

Today, we reserve the sativa label for plants that share common physical profiles. Most countries recognize only one species, Cannabis sativa, and the question of whether indica is a subspecies remains hotly debated. In the meantime, the market still recognizes two varieties, sativa and indica.

What's the difference between an indica and a sativa?

Separate sativa and indica plants according to their growth characteristics and physical constitution is a useful and efficient practice for growers.

The real difference between today's sativa and indica plants lies in their observable characteristics during the growing cycle. Sativa plants are taller than indicas, and their leaves are thinner. Sativas also mature much more slowly than indica, which tend to flower in 45-65 days, compared with 100 days for sativas.

Sativa plants have longer flowering cycles, do better in warm climates with long seasons, and are generally taller with narrow, light-green leaves. In terrestrial cultivars, sativas tend to produce higher concentrations of THCA relative to CBDA than indica.

Crossbreeding has dominated the last 50 years of cannabis cultivation, virtually eliminating the possibility of encountering a pure sativa or indica. Classifying a particular cultivar as indica or sativa usually means that it leans to one side or the other of the sativa/indica spectrum.

What are the effects of sativa?

While sativa/indica taxonomy is effective for growers, it doesn't help consumers predict the effects of a given cannabis plant. Human intervention has radically altered the chemical composition of cannabis. In the days of Linnaeus and Lamarck, the effects of C. sativa and C. indica plants might have corresponded more closely to their physical characteristics. Today, a plant's appearance tells us nothing about the type of effect it will produce.

Is sativa an energizer?

Within the cannabis community, the sativa plant is often characterized as having stimulant effects that produce a «head high», while indicas are considered sedative and generally lead to an intense «body high». Dr. Ethan Russo, a psychopharmacology researcher and board-certified neurologist at the forefront of cannabinoid research, explained in an interview published in the peer-reviewed journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research that «the sativa/indica distinction as commonly applied in lay literature is utter nonsense and an exercise in futility». In reality, the effects of cannabis are based on the unique chemical profiles of each variety, rather than a genetic lineage.

For example, a cultivar landrace indica line grown in a new environment could potentially produce a unique chemical profile that would induce stimulating effects.

Moreover, the effects of cannabis have more to do with the composition of a user's individual endocannabinoid system than with a plant's genetic lineage. Individuals may have different experiences depending on how their endocannabinoid system interacts with a given cannabinoid profile. One user may report feeling sedation and relaxation with a plant of the sativa lineage, while another may report a stimulating effect with the same plant.

If you go into your local dispensary today, you'll probably be confronted with products labeled sativa, indica or hybrid. The addition of the term hybrid to the cannabis lexicon is a sign that cannabis marketing is catching up with reality. All modern cultivars are technically hybrids.

Conclusion

Research has yet to catch up with the wealth of cannabis strains in circulation today. Terpene and cannabinoid profiles are becoming increasingly important in product marketing, as the average cannabis consumer becomes better informed about the complex nature of the cannabis plant, leading to more sophisticated purchasing choices.

As Dr. Ethan Russo explains, to predict the effects of a cannabis cultivar, In order to achieve this, we need to «quantify the biochemical components of a given cannabis strain and correlate them with the effects observed in real patients». If a cultivar produces effects similar to those of sativa, this will have more to do with terpene content than plant structure or possibly cannabinoid content. For example, cultivars with a high limonene content, whether sativa or indica, are very likely to facilitate mood enhancement.

The terms sativa and indica are far more valuable to growers than to consumers. Until we collectively develop a new taxonomy to give consumers a better idea of the effects to which they are exposing themselves, it's important to remember that sativa plants are not guaranteed to produce sativa-like effects.