Cannabis Naming System and Current Issues

Cannabis Naming System and Current Issues

International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants
The International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP) regulates the naming of plants whose recent evolution has been influenced by human selection.

Cultivar Is Defined As…
The ICNCP’s basic unit of classification is the cultivar, “an assemblage of plants that…
(a) has been selected for a particular character or combination of characters,
(b) is distinct, uniform, and stable in these characters, and
(c) when propagated by appropriate means, retains those characters.”

Rule For Naming a Cultivar…
The ICNCP’s rules for naming and describing cultivars involve valid publication, typification (“Nomenclatural Standard”), and priority.
The ICNCP is available online for consultation regarding these provisions.
Cultivar names meeting ICNCP provisions are placed in single quotation marks.

Variety, Form and Strain = Cultivar
Article 2.2 in ICNCP stipulates that the words “variety,” “form,” and “strain” must not be used for the word “cultivar” (Brickell, 2009).
“Strain” is not formally recognized by the ICN or ICNCP.
Strains are conceptually identical to cultivars, but almost no strains have met ICNCP requirements for cultivar recognition (Small, 2015).

Rules are in place for a reason
Clarke and Merlin (2015) argued that “the bigger picture” justifies using “strain” and “cultivar” as equivalents.
Small (2015b) retorted that they showed insufficient respect for codes of nomenclature, which hold pragmatic and moral status.
“The botanical codes are by and large adhered to by scientists, commercial interests and editors because they provide stability and reliability to names that otherwise would result in confusion.”

“Strain” Names
“Strain” names have become numerus…
Leafly (2015) listed 1535 strain names
Seedfinder (2015) listed 6510 strain names
Most strains are recognized hybrids, characterized as “Sativa-dominant” or “Indica-dominant.”
Keep in-mind that, strain names are swapped and counterfeited, and generally unreliable.

What is in a name?
Any strain that has not been formally described as a cultivar, for example, the so called Sour diesel, should be named as follows:
Cannabis strain Sour diesel
The popularized name is without single quotation marks,
Remember that these names have no taxonomical validity.

Strain Name Variability
“AK-47” won “best Sativa” in the 1999 Cannabis Cup, and won “best Indica” 4 years later.

Questionable Pedigree
Claimed ancestry of “Super Silver Sour Diesel Haze”, from Seedfinder (2015)


Link to Lecture Slides: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rY1f...

Review Sheet Questions:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1j...

Review Sheet Questions and Answers:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1T...

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