Indica or sativa, the comparison
What the two labels actually describe, and why the measured chemotype tells you more than the strain family.
Indica
Sativa
What the name describes
A morphology: short, stocky plant, broad leaves, fast flowering cycle.
A morphology: tall, slender plant, thin leaves, long flowering.
Historical geographic origin
Hindu Kush foothills (Afghanistan, Pakistan, northern India).
Equatorial regions (South-East Asia, East Africa, Central America).
How shops use the term
Commercially associated with evening profiles. That association is not a measured property.
Commercially associated with daytime profiles. Same caveat: nothing measured.
What genetics says
Genomic analyses show near-universal hybrids: the label poorly predicts the real chemical content.
Same: the correlation between the commercial name and the measured chemical profile is weak.
Method and limits
Indica and sativa are 18th-century botanical labels describing plant shape. Genomic studies published since 2015 show today’s commercial strains are near-universal hybrids, and that the label correlates poorly with the measured chemical profile.
What does describe a product is its certificate of analysis: CBD/THC ratio, dominant terpene, minor cannabinoids. Every Phytogrammes product page publishes that profile per batch, alongside growing-method context.