Cannabis – Cannabis sativa

Cannabis - Cannabis sativa

No safety concerns with low THC strains.THC is psychoactive component, produced when cannabis buds cured/heated and active whether smoked, ingested or applied topically.

Conservation – no conservation concerns

Common names: cannabis, marijuana, weed (English); dachab (Khoi); umya, ntsangu (Xhosa); nsangu (Zulu); dagga (Afrikaans). 
Botanical name: Cannabis sativa

    Nature

    Annual, fast-growing, up to 4m. Dioecious, male and female on separate plants. Compound leaves with 2-13 serrated leaflets. Flowering late summer, autumn, wind pollinated. Trichomes mostly on flowers and surrounding leaves, glands producing cannabinoids and aromatic terpenoids. Domesticated thousands of years ago. Cultivated for different uses – for hemp, seed oil (low THC); for recreational and medicinal use (high THC).

    Family: Cannabaceae
    Attributes: aromatic, shrub
    Flower colour: 
    Flowering season: 
    Plant-animal interactions: 
    Conservation: Not threatened

    Uses & Benefits

    Traditional use – Very wide range of traditional uses from around the world. Widespread traditional use for wound healing, treating infections topically (leaves, flowers and roots). Also, for treating snake bites. Other traditional uses of cannabis include for cough, asthma, bronchitis, headache, pains, flu, epilepsy, malaria, blood poisoning. Oldest written record Greece 440 BCE, describing the seeds used as incense in saunas. First century, Pliny the Elder described decoction of root in water to relieve joint pain, stiffness, gout. By the 17th century, various herbalists recommending cannabis root to treat inflammation, joint pain, gout, and other conditions. Cannabis in popular use in South Africa by Khoi, San and Bantu peoples prior to European settlement in the Cape in 1652.
    Modern use – stimulate appetite, nausea in chemotherapy, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, and numerous other conditions. Endocannabinoid system and cannabinoid receptors have been found in mammals, birds, fish, and reptiles. ECS impacts mood, appetite, memory, metabolism, sleep, pleasure, movement and coordination, immune response, etc.

    Safety: avoid ingesting during pregnancy and lactation
    Usefulness: bio-fuel, fibre, food, medicine, phyto-remediation, small garden, smoke, tea
    First-aid use: asthma, bronchitis, colds, cough, glaucoma, gout, headache, inflammation, influenza, loss of appetite, multiple sclerosis, nausea, pain, rheumatism, snake bite, wounds

    Care & Cultivation

    Cultivation – Easily grown from seed, and cuttings (clones). Hardy, pest resistant. Likes sunshine and well-drained slightly acidic soil rich in organic matter. Not very water-wise. Useful plant for phytoremediation, filter plants, to mop up environmental toxins – concentrate in the roots.

    Light-level: shade – semi, sun – afternoon, sun – full, sun – morning
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