Page "Cannabis" Paragraph 29

Professors William Emboden, Loran Anderson, and Harvard botanist Richard E. Schultes and coworkers also conducted taxonomic studies of Cannabis in the 1970s, and concluded that stable morphological differences exist that support recognition of at least three species, C. sativa, C. indica, and C. ruderalis.

For Schultes, this was a reversal of his previous interpretation that Cannabis is monotypic, with only a single species.

According to Schultes ' and Anderson's descriptions, C. sativa is tall and laxly branched with relatively narrow leaflets, C. indica is shorter, conical in shape, and has relatively wide leaflets, and C. ruderalis is short, branchless, and grows wild in central Asia.

This taxonomic interpretation was embraced by Cannabis aficionados who commonly distinguish narrow-leafed " sativa " drug strains from wide-leafed " indica " drug strains.