Indica vs sativa: 89,923 lab tests, no chemical divide

It starts with a book. For botanists, the publication of Linnaeus's Species Plantarum in 1753 opens modern plant naming, and Cannabis sativa dates from it. Linnaeus's specimen was a European plant grown for fibre, with no intoxicating effect. In 1785 Lamarck described a second species, Cannabis indica, from India: fairly tall plants, loosely branched, with narrow leaflets.

Here is the paradox. Today, sellers call a squat, broad-leaved plant "indica" and a tall, narrow-leaved plant "sativa". Botanist John McPartland, in a 2018 review, sums up the gap in one sentence: trade "Sativa" is really indica, "Indica" is afghanica, and "Ruderalis" is usually sativa. He recognises a single species, Cannabis sativa, split into two subspecies, sativa and indica.

The law, too, names authorised hemp Cannabis sativa L., whatever the variety looks like. The EU common agricultural policy regulation only grants aid for varieties whose THC content does not exceed 0.3% (Article 4). The European Commission counted 116 hemp varieties in the common catalogue in 2024, and France accounts for more than 60% of EU production. Our article on the European variety catalogue explains how to read it.

Three studies of cannabis sold in North America have compared the label with the contents. Their results point the same way.

The study by Sawler and colleagues, published in PLOS ONE in 2015, adds two findings. In 6 comparisons out of 17, samples with the same variety name were genetically closer to samples with a different name. And hemp turned out closer to "indica"-type cannabis than to the "sativa" type.

In 2021, Watts's team, in Nature Plants, analysed more than 100 samples for terpenes, cannabinoids and more than 100,000 genetic markers at once. Samples labelled "sativa" and "indica" were not distinct across the genome. Some terpene synthase genes, on the other hand, were associated with the label.

The largest study is by Smith and colleagues, published in 2022 in PLOS ONE. It covers 89,923 samples tested in six US states. Terpene profiles fall into three families: β-caryophyllene and limonene, myrcene and pinene, terpinolene and myrcene. The indica, sativa and hybrid labels are mixed across all three families, with no clear separation. The authors call marketing that presents indica as sedating and sativa as energising unfounded. Our article on hemp terpenes describes these molecules.

The idea rests on testimony, not trials. One often-cited source is an online survey published in 2014 of 95 medical cannabis users in the United States. Respondents linked indica with sleep and sedation, sativa with euphoria and energy. The authors acknowledge its limits: participants were not randomly selected, and some questions had very few respondents. A further point is decisive: the labels were not checked in a lab. Nobody knew what the product actually contained, and the expectation created by the label can be enough to steer the answer.

Neurologist Ethan Russo, a cannabinoid specialist, was blunter. In an interview published in 2016, he says you cannot guess a plant's composition from its height, branching or leaves. He recommends dropping both words in favour of cannabinoid and terpene testing. We found no clinical trial that compares, blind, "sativa" and "indica" products of known composition.

For a CBD flower the question matters even less. CBD does not produce the psychoactive effect of THC, and a compliant product contains no more than 0.30% Δ⁹-THC. The article does CBD get you high? covers this point.

Researchers classify cannabis by chemotype, meaning its cannabinoid profile. A 2022 review in Plants describes five.

A CBD flower sold in France belongs to chemotype III, or IV for CBG-rich varieties. Two plants with opposite shapes can share the same chemotype, and two plants that look identical can have different ones. That is what a certificate of analysis measures, and what the word sativa or indica does not tell you.

An indica or sativa mention on a product page is a statement about genetic origin, sometimes a loose one. Five items on the certificate of analysis tell you more:

1. The batch number, identical on the bag and on the analysis.
2. The CBD content, as a percentage of mass.
3. The Δ⁹-THC, which must stay at 0.30% or below.
4. The terpene profile, when the lab measured it: myrcene, limonene, β-caryophyllene.
5. No HHC, H4CBD or THCP, which are classified as narcotics.

The CBD flower pages list each variety's dominant terpene. Our selection criteria are set out in the article on the quality of a smokable CBD.