New strains of marijuana pop up almost daily anymore. How many of them are actually new strains, versus old strains given a new name for marketing purposes, is tough to say. It’s not everyday that a new species of marijuana is discovered, but that appears to potentially be the case in Australia, where scientists believe they have discovered an entirely new species of marijuana. Per Culture:
Scientists at the University of Sydney believe they have found a fourth species of cannabis. The finding took place in 201 (sic), when a group of people were hiking in the Blue Mountains of Australia and discovered a single plant that resembled cannabis. The shrub was later donated to a research laboratory at the University of Sydney where a series of tests were conducted on the plant – proving that it was indeed cannabis. “When we first received the plant we were very skeptical about its relation to cannabis. It has somewhat similar growth structure, but the leaves look nothing like cannabis leaves,” according to researcher Christopher Pool.
The test results show that the species is resistant to freezing temperatures and the plant grows more like a shrub, without the archetypal candelabra shape of most cannabis strains. Countless cannabis breeders the world over have offered to pay upwards of $2,000 per seed, but Pool stated “The only problem is that we don’t have any seeds, we only have one plant,” adding, “We’ve exhausted our funding trying to find another like it.”
From what it sounds like, we may never get to taste the new strain of marijuana, unless scientists (or seed breeders) can find some more of it. What a tease, right? It begs the question of ‘are there any other species of marijuana out there?’ This is a fantastic development, and is certainly worth monitoring.
