Cultivar
The botanically correct term for what cannabis sellers usually call a 'strain' — a named, cultivated variety of the plant.
'Cultivar' is the technically correct word for a named cannabis variety like Blue Dream or OG Kush. In practice, the industry uses 'strain' and almost nobody outside botany cares about the distinction. The bigger problem isn't terminology — it's that two plants sold under the same cultivar name can have wildly different genetics and chemistry. The name on the jar is a marketing label, not a guarantee of identity.
Definition
A cultivar is a plant variety that has been selected and maintained through cultivation, and given a formal name under the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP) [1]. The word is a portmanteau of 'cultivated' and 'variety,' introduced by Liberty Hyde Bailey in 1923 [2].
In cannabis, 'cultivar' refers to a named lineage — Blue Dream, Chemdog, Northern Lights — distinguished from other lineages by traits that are stable when propagated. In casual industry usage, the same concept is called a strain.
Cultivar vs. strain vs. chemovar
- Strain is the dispensary-counter word. It carries no botanical precision and is rejected by most plant scientists, who note 'strain' is a microbiology term [3].
- Cultivar is the correct horticultural term but assumes the variety is genetically stable — which, in cannabis, is often not true Strong evidence.
- Chemovar (or chemotype) groups plants by their chemical profile (THC-dominant, CBD-dominant, balanced, etc.) rather than by name or lineage [4]. Several researchers argue chemovar is more useful than cultivar for predicting effects Weak / limited.
Why cultivar names are unreliable in cannabis
Genetic studies have repeatedly shown that cannabis samples sold under the same cultivar name often differ substantially in DNA, and samples with different names are sometimes nearly identical [5][6] Strong evidence. Causes include:
- Most commercial 'cultivars' are seed-grown populations, not genetically uniform clones.
- No central registry enforces names.
- Growers rename plants for marketing.
- Prohibition prevented formal cultivar registration for decades.
This is why a 'Blue Dream' from one dispensary can test and feel quite different from a 'Blue Dream' from another.
How Weedpedia uses the term
On Weedpedia, we use cultivar when discussing named varieties in a botanical or breeding context (e.g., 'the Haze cultivar group'), and strain when reflecting common industry usage. When chemistry matters more than lineage — for example, discussing effects or medical use — we prefer chemovar. See also: terpene profile, phenotype, landrace.
Sources
- Book Brickell, C.D. et al. (eds.) (2016). International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP), 9th edition. International Society for Horticultural Science.
- Peer-reviewed Spongberg, S.A. (1979). Notes on persons whose plant names appear in Hortus Third. Arnoldia, 39(3), 132–149.
- Peer-reviewed Small, E. (2015). Evolution and Classification of Cannabis sativa (Marijuana, Hemp) in Relation to Human Utilization. The Botanical Review, 81(3), 189–294.
- Peer-reviewed Lewis, M.A., Russo, E.B., & Smith, K.M. (2018). Pharmacological Foundations of Cannabis Chemovars. Planta Medica, 84(4), 225–233.
- Peer-reviewed Sawler, J. et al. (2015). The Genetic Structure of Marijuana and Hemp. PLOS ONE, 10(8), e0133292.
- Peer-reviewed Schwabe, A.L. & McGlaughlin, M.E. (2019). Genetic tools weed out misconceptions of strain reliability in Cannabis sativa: implications for a budding industry. Journal of Cannabis Research, 1(3).
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